Pelosi, House Democrats Unveil Jobs and Prosperity Plan as Part of the New Partnership for America's Future
Pelosi, House Democrats Unveil Jobs and Prosperity Plan as Part of the New Partnership for America's Future
Washington, D.C. - Today House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, joined by Congressmen James Oberstar (D-MN) and George Miller (D-CA), unveiled legislative proposals to promote prosperity and job growth as part of the House Democrats' New Partnership for America's Future. Below are Pelosi's remarks:
"Last fall, House Democrats unveiled our New Partnership for America's Future, which reaffirms our commitment to six core American values for a strong and secure middle class: prosperity, national security, fairness, opportunity, community, and accountability.
"Today, Democrats are putting forward specific steps to expand prosperity, to provide all Americans with the opportunity to succeed, to live a secure and comfortable life including good jobs here at home, affordable health care, a growing economy with stable prices, investments in new technologies, and fiscal responsibility in government.
"Yesterday, some disturbing job figures came out. The Commerce Department said that retail sales decreased a seasonably adjusted .3 percent last month and the New York Federal Reserve reported a slowdown in manufacturing activity.
"Today on the front page of the USA Today was a story about laid-off workers struggling to find work: 'Hunt often discouraging, expensive and lengthy.'
"With nearly 8 million Americans unemployed, the need to create jobs is urgent. It takes significantly longer to find a job today than in years past, as this article attests to, and too many people have simply given up hope and given up their search. Too many people are trading in hard hats for paper hats in McDonald's restaurants. It just shouldn't be.
"Today, House Democrats are putting forth specific steps to achieve a prosperity that includes all Americans in the economic success of our country. By creating millions of new jobs, spurring innovation, and investing in America, we will advance economic security for America's families."
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A Plan for Jobs and Prosperity: The New Partnership for America's Future
House Democrats are committed to taking the bold steps necessary to strengthen the middle class, which is the heart of our democracy. Our New Partnership for America's Future reaffirms our commitment to six core American values: prosperity, national security, fairness, opportunity, community and accountability.
Today, Democrats are putting forward specific steps to achieve a prosperity that includes all Americans in the economic success of our country. By creating millions of new jobs, spurring innovation, and investing in America, we will advance economic security for America's families.
Our plan for jobs and prosperity will:
Invest in America to Create Jobs Today
Traffic congestion clogs our streets, delays our commutes, and costs our economy $62 billion a year, a 450 percent increase since 1982. And yet Republicans fight among themselves instead of passing the long-delayed highway bill, which would ease congestion, improve our quality of life, and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. Democrats support a robust highway bill to make an investment of $318 billion in our highways and transit systems and create more than 1.8 million jobs over the next six years.
Promote Small Business Growth and Jobs
High health costs are a crushing burden for the small businesses that are the engine of America's economy. Democrats support the Small Business Health Insurance Promotion Act, creating a 50-percent tax credit to help small businesses defray the costs of health coverage and helping to put more Americans to work. Democrats also will create a billion-dollar investment fund to channel capital and management expertise to small town America.
Support Tax Incentives to Build the Future Economy
American companies and workers have always led the world in economic growth and technological innovation. Democrats support the Invest in America Act, which would modernize and permanently extend the research and development tax credit to spur more U.S. investment in R&D, creating more high-paying jobs and generating greater economic activity in local communities.
Promote Fair Trade, Discourage Outsourcing
The loss of millions of American manufacturing jobs has devastated many communities and millions of families with no response from the Republican-led Congress. Meanwhile, tax policies subsidize the movement of U.S. jobs overseas. U.S. trade policy should promote strategies that focus on opening markets, ensuring a level playing field for American workers and businesses, and strengthening critical domestic industries, such as our manufacturing, intellectual property, and technology sectors. Democrats support sound trade and tax policies that create American jobs, value workers' rights, raises standards of living, and end tax breaks that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas.
Invest in Energy Independence
Our dependence on foreign sources of oil holds our citizens and our economy hostage to foreign interests and foreign agendas. Democrats will reduce our dependence on foreign oil by investing in domestic sources, including renewable energy and emerging technologies, to increase energy efficiency and reduce consumption. Using unparalleled U.S. technology and creativity, we can create thousands of new jobs.
Support Wages That Can Provide for a Family
Millions of minimum wage employees - many of them adults supporting families - earn just $10,700 a year, well below the poverty line for a family of three, leaving them impoverished and dependent on public services for housing, food, education, and health care. In the past eight years, Members of Congress have raised their own pay seven times, while America's minimum wage workers have not received a penny more. Democrats believe that people who work full time should be able to support their families without being dependent on public services. The Fair Minimum Wage Act will increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, providing an additional $4,370 a year to 7.5 million workers across the country.