[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 25, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                               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unions with a rule book designed for Wall Street, and an outdated 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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