[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 94 (Thursday, June 7, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3269-S3270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ECONOMIC GROWTH

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, 16 months ago, President Trump and 
Republican majorities arrived in Washington with clear instructions 
from the American people: Get the Federal Government out of the way. A 
decade of Democratic control meant that taxes were too high, 
regulations were too burdensome, and America was too difficult a place 
to start a small business or hire more workers.

[[Page S3270]]

  Republicans heard our marching orders loud and clear. We used the 
Congressional Review Act a record 16 times to root out invasive rules 
that tripped up small businesses. We uprooted key pieces of ObamaCare 
and Dodd-Frank that had burdened the middle class, and we delivered a 
long-overdue, comprehensive overhaul of America's Tax Code. It is 
helping to rejuvenate the economy and is letting American families keep 
more of what they earn.
  Today, under this Republican government, the U.S. economy is 
healthier than it has been in a long time. We have the lowest 
unemployment in 18 years, and more open positions than workers seeking 
jobs for the first time since the Labor Department started collecting 
these data. There is record levels of optimism among small businesses 
and manufacturers. More Americans are saying that now is a good time to 
find a quality job than at any point in the last 17 years.
  In the Obama years, prosperity was slower in coming. Opportunities 
were comparatively few, and what limited growth did occur flowed 
disproportionately into America's very biggest urban centers.
  Now our economy is starting to work better for all kinds of 
communities. I recently heard a few inspiring stories from my friend 
Senator Portman. In Zanesville, OH, the owners of GKM Auto Parts spent 
much of the last decade watching health insurance premiums soar. By 
2016 they could no longer support coverage for their employees, but as 
Senator Portman recently explained, one of the first things the company 
was able to do following the passage of historic tax reform last year 
was to restore that coverage.
  He also shared that builders and manufacturers across his State, from 
Wolf Metals in Columbus to Advanced Industrial Roofing in Massillon, 
are increasing pay and benefits, investing in equipment, and creating 
jobs as a direct result of tax reform and this pro-growth economic 
climate.
  We are hearing stories like these from every corner of our country.
  American workers and job creators are turning the page on the last 
decade and writing brand-new success stories, and Republican policies 
are helping to make that happen.

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