The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“JOB GROWTH” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S5316 on July 25, 2018.
The Department provides billions in unemployment insurance, which peaked around 2011 though spending had declined before the pandemic. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, claimed the Department funds "ineffective and duplicative services" and overregulates the workplace.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
JOB GROWTH
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on another matter, we are discussing the difference between rhetoric and results when it comes to our economy. Yesterday, I described how my Democratic friends spent the Obama years talking about the importance of rebuilding American manufacturing. They talked about it, but it is the actions of this united Republican government that have made it easier for manufacturers to expand and hire.
It is on our watch that optimism among U.S. manufacturers has hit the highest level that one survey has ever recorded. Well, it turns out that there are quite a few areas where this Republican government is helping to deliver victories that our Democratic friends spent 8 years talking about.
In his 2010 State of the Union Address, President Obama proclaimed that job growth would be the No. 1 focus of the coming year. He said that ``the true engine of job creation in this country will always be America's businesses'' and that government's role was to ``create the conditions necessary for businesses to expand and to hire more workers.''
Recognizing American job creators as the true engines of prosperity and giving them room to succeed sounds good to me. It sounded good to almost everyone, in fact.
But once again, the policies didn't match the rhetoric. Instead, the Obama administration twice set all-time records for the number of pages in the Federal Register, and those pages had consequences. By constantly moving the regulatory goalposts, government eroded the certainty businesses need to invest and to hire.
Washington, DC, restricted farmers' and ranchers' control over water on their own property. Bureaucrats overwhelmed small banks and credit unions with a rule book designed for Wall Street, and an outdated Federal Tax Code held back job creation and made America much less competitive.
On Democrats' watch, Americans had to wait out an economic
``recovery'' that was insufficient, slow, and left whole parts of the country way behind.
Remember the rhetoric and then remember the facts. Republicans have always agreed that job creation must be a top priority, but we have a better idea about how to actually help make it happen. The Republican Congress has used the Congressional Review Act to slash 17 burdensome regulations. That is on top of the administration's own Executive actions. We have passed, and the President has signed, major changes to Obamacare and to Dodd-Frank, and we passed generational tax reform that puts more hard-earned money in the pockets of working families and gives job creators more flexibility.
So what is happening on our watch? Just a few days ago, the number of Americans newly filing for unemployment benefits hit the lowest level in more than 48 years. Let me say that again. Newly filing for unemployment benefits hit its lowest level in more than 48 years. Here is how CNN characterized the Labor Department's most recent jobs report:
The U.S. economy keeps adding jobs at a blistering pace. .
. . The job market is so good, many people who had previously given up looking are starting to look again.
According to Gallup, the percentage of Americans saying now is a good time to find a quality job hit its highest level in 17 years. That is not just rhetoric but actual results, due to the hard work of American workers and job creators, with an assist from this Republican government.
Unfortunately, this pro-growth agenda hasn't gotten much support from across the aisle. Not a single Democrat--not one--voted for the tax reform that helped to turn rhetoric about jobs into actual jobs.
There was hardly any Democratic support for the regulatory housecleaning that has given job creators more confidence to stay on American soil, grow their businesses, and add jobs.
So all of us agree with the rhetoric, but not everyone supported the policy agenda that has helped to deliver these results for the American people.
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