[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 8, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2708]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Economic Growth

  Madam President, on one final matter, I talked about leaving the 
``outrage industrial complex'' behind and returning focus to the issues 
that impact the everyday lives of the American people. That is what my 
Republican colleagues and I have been focused on all along, and we are 
continuing to see that focus pay off.
  For the better part of the last 2 years, the Labor Department's 
monthly jobs report has regularly pointed to an economy that has been 
opening new doors for millions of Americans. It has reinforced what we 
have known to be the case--that the pro-growth, pro-opportunity agenda 
enacted by the Republicans has been helping America's working families, 
job creators, and entrepreneurs write a remarkable new chapter of 
prosperity.
  Here are just a few of the headlines to emerge following last 
Friday's jobs report: ``Real gains in the paychecks of average 
workers''; ``Torrent of job offers, bigger salaries offer more proof 
U.S. labor market is still red-hot''; ``U.S. unemployment fell to 3.6 
percent, the lowest since December 1969.''
  Yet there appears to be plenty of disbelief among Washington 
Democrats that things like rising wages, consumer confidence, and 
fierce competition for skilled American workers are causes for 
celebration. At least, that is what their recent policy proposals have 
left us to assume.
  From a massive Federal experiment in one-size-fits-all health 
insurance to a Washington-dictated ``green'' overhaul of American 
homes, cars, and jobs, the Democrats seem determined to make the 
current wave of prosperity and economic opportunity short-lived. They 
are peddling a wholesale shift away from the free enterprise tradition 
that has unleashed prosperity and opportunity throughout American 
history, and they are doing so at the very time that daily headlines 
confirm those principles are still working to literally lift up 
American families.
  In my home State of Kentucky, the unemployment rate has reached its 
lowest level on record. Communities across the country are tapping into 
new opportunities for growth, and families and job creators nationwide 
are benefiting.
  So Republicans will continue working hard, laying the groundwork for 
American free enterprise to seize on this truly extraordinary moment.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.