[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 24 (Monday, February 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S529-S530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            ECONOMIC GROWTH

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on Friday, our country received another 
extraordinary bit of news about the state of our economic recovery. 
Last month, the economy created 467,000 new jobs, far exceeding all 
expectations. This comes on the heels of news that our economy grew at 
its fastest rate in decades last year.
  With last week's jobs numbers, the U.S. economy now has added a total 
of 6.6 million jobs in President Biden's first year in office. Let me 
say that again. In 1 year alone, the economy has added a whopping 6.6 
million jobs back to the economy--the most ever recorded for a 
President's first year. This includes the creation of 367,000 
manufacturing jobs--the most in 30 years.
  For all the difficulties of the past 2 years and for the real 
challenges our economy faces today, this jobs number is a remarkable 
milestone. It is a reminder that who gets elected to office makes a big 
difference.
  A year ago, Democrats promised to fix the mess our country was in 
after President Trump botched our pandemic response. We promised to 
lift our economy out of the abyss, to get people back to work, back to 
the classroom, and to do it safely by following the science. It is why 
Democrats worked furiously last year to pass the American Rescue Plan. 
It is why the Senate came together to pass USICA, which we will work to 
enact into law in the near future. It is why we came together to pass a 
historic, bipartisan infrastructure package that is now putting people 
back to work fixing our roads, bridges, internet, lead piping, and so 
much more.
  With 6.6 million jobs gained and record economic growth in our first 
year, Democrats are delivering on our promise. And it is not just that 
job creation exceeded expectations; wages for American workers grew in 
2021, and indications from top forecasters are that wages will continue 
to grow in 2022.
  A year into executing our Democratic agenda, the American economy is 
in the midst of a historic turnaround, but the job is not over. Even as 
wages are up, Democrats are taking action to lower costs. We need to 
help everyday families afford the daily essentials, just as we need to 
relieve our supply chains and rebuild American manufacturing, including 
by focusing on critical technologies like semiconductors.

[[Page S530]]

  We took an important step in the right direction last week after the 
House passed the companion legislation to USICA. I applaud the House 
for passing this legislation, and I join my Senate colleagues from both 
sides of the aisle in saying we were pleased to have gotten the ball 
rolling when we passed the USICA bill--formally known as Endless 
Frontiers--last summer.
  There is a lot of work to do to enact USICA into law, so I look 
forward to moving quickly to a conference so the House and Senate can 
bridge the differences between our proposals.
  Once again, I want to thank my colleagues from both sides of the 
aisle for leadership on this very important legislation.
  This will continue to be Democrats' focus: lowering costs, increasing 
wages, and bringing jobs back from overseas, while creating more jobs 
right here at home. It is what Democrats have worked on for the past 12 
months as we have helped Americans get back to normal, and it is what 
we will continue to focus on as we enter year 2 of the Biden 
administration.

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