[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 56 (Thursday, April 2, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4385-S4386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Mr. Begich):
  S. 824. A bill to establish a Jobs Creation Coordinator in the 
Department of Commerce to ensure that agencies in the Department use 
resources in a manner that maximizes the maintenance and creation of 
jobs in the United States, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today in response to the devastating 
job losses resulting from the current economic crisis. Figures released 
this week show that U.S. companies shed more than 740,000 jobs in 
March, a 5 percent increase over the 706,000 jobs lost in February. Our 
country has now lost nearly 4.5 million jobs since the onset of the 
recession--the most since 1945. Tomorrow's release of government-
compiled employment figures is certain to confirm the dismal state of 
the U.S. job market--a tragic reality that millions of hardworking 
Americans and the families they support know all too well.
  As a senior member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and 
Transportation, I believe it is essential for the Department of 
Commerce to respond to this dire situation by focusing its efforts on 
expanding employment opportunities for Americans. With its statutory 
mission ``to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic 
commerce,'' the Department of Commerce has a clear mandate to defend 
and grow the U.S. economy through job preservation and creation.
  Yet the disparate agencies that comprise the department have little 
or no occasion to coordinate their efforts toward maximizing its job 
maintaining and creating potential. While divisions such as the 
Economic Development Agency and the Minority Business Development 
Agency each have their own programs to increase employment in their 
respective target communities, there is the potential for even greater 
job creation through the coordination

[[Page S4386]]

of their efforts with the core functions of other department 
components, such as the export-promotion activities of the 
International Trade Administration, the economic analysis of the 
Economics and Statistics Administration, and the stewardship of 
technological innovation by the National Telecommunications & 
Information Administration.
  That is why I am today introducing bipartisan legislation with my 
Commerce Committee colleague Senator Begich to establish a Job Creation 
Coordinator at the department. Answering directly to the Secretary of 
Commerce, the Coordinator would not only ensure that each agency is 
carrying out its primary mission in a way that maximizes U.S. 
employment, but also would identify and implement opportunities to link 
separate programs being carried out by the agencies in a way that 
ensures that department resources are being spent in a manner which 
guarantees the utmost job creation per dollar appropriated.
  Specifically, the Jobs Coordinator would be responsible for making an 
initial assessment of the private sector jobs currently being 
maintained or created by Commerce Department programs; formulating an 
action plan for improving these figures under existing statutory 
authority; liaising with Congress about additional authority which 
would enhance the job maintaining and creating abilities of Commerce 
Department programs; and, overseeing the implementation of new 
department policies or statutory authorities intended to enhance the 
department's job maintenance and creation potential.
  The millions of Americans who have lost their livelihoods to the 
economic downturn, or whose jobs are at risk amidst the turmoil, 
deserve the utmost effort by their government to put an end to the lay-
offs and get people back to work. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
this vital effort by supporting this legislation.

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