Wilson

“Today’s disappointing job numbers should send a clear message to Congress that it’s time to restore focus on America’s real economic crisis—unemployment.  Over the past several weeks, Congress has had to put the issue on the back-burner because of the shenanigans of a small group of Tea Party lawmakers.

“The White House has estimated that the government shutdown will "subtract" roughly 120,000 jobs from the US economy.  As the independent economic consulting firm Macroeconomic Advisers revealed last week, the budget battles, debt-ceiling showdowns, and budget cuts that have consumed Congress since the Republican takeover in 2010 have cost the United States an estimated $700 billion in economic activity and more than two million jobs.

“Instead of continuing to govern by crisis, it’s time for Republicans to listen to the American people and focus on a real solution to the jobs crisis.   Democrats have proven policy proposals – including the American Jobs Act of 2013 and the Jobs Now Act, both of which I recently introduced, the 21st Century Full Employment Act, which Congressman John Conyers of Michigan has sponsored, and the Make It in America Agenda, which Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer has championed – any of which could go a long way toward ending the unemployment crisis that has been with us since the start of the Great Recession.

“The mantra of this Congress should be Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!”