Leader Cantor: We Are Focused on Creating American Jobs

Press Conference

"Good morning, as the Speaker indicated, this week is no exception of our relentless pursuit over the last two years to focus on the economy and get more people back to work in this country. We are going to have three bills on the floor this week that are directly related to job creation. The Speaker mentioned the bill to stop the President's war on coal. This bill is about creating American jobs. This is about lowering the cost of energy for working families and small businesses that will help create more jobs and get people back to work.

"We are also going to have the vote on the STEM visa bill. This will enable the top 55,000 foreign nationals that are in our Ph.D. and STEM programs at our universities to stay here when they finish. All too many are leaving once they learn and get their degree at our universities and they are going off to work for competitors to American businesses and taking the venture capital with them. We are about job creation. The Democrats have said time and again have said they support STEM visas. I am hopeful for a bipartisan vote on this bill so we can say America is open for business, we are here for the best and the brightest in the world for them to come, work and help create jobs.

"The Speaker talked about the Congressional Review Act bill that we will be voting on today. This is a bill overturns the President's rule to waive the work requirement in the TANF program. The President says that we're not telling the truth; that he doesn't want to waive the work requirement. Well, I asked the Congressional Research Service, the nonpartisan arm of Congress, to do some research and to tell us exactly what is going on in terms of work requirements in programs under this Administration. In the stimulus bill, the President had inserted provisions to waive the work requirement in the SNAP program. That food stamp program certainly is going to have an explosion of population because of the tough economic times. But what have seen is the class of individuals who are eligible for food stamps and would have been subject to the work requirement, more than doubled while the existing population grew over 40 percent. This particular population subject to the work requirement, when it was waived, more than doubled. CRS showed the President has consistently supported waiving the work requirement and this is the result you get. This is why we are taking this action. It's not to deny anyone what they need. What this provision does and the reason why it's so popular is it works. It helps get people back to work.

"That's what we are going to be about continuously over the next 47 days. That's why our House candidates are going to do so well is because we remain focused on where the people are focused, and making life work for them and helping them get back to work."

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