Highlights GOP Jobs, Energy, & Health Care Ideas
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) spoke about Republican efforts to help Americans find good jobs, strengthen our energy security, improve our health care, and cut Washington red tape.
Excerpts of his remarks:
“The Senate is debating a plan, a plan by which Washington Democrats seek to restrict first amendment rights of American citizens, part of the Constitution.
“Under this proposal, certain people would no longer enjoy the same right to free speech, and the same right to express themselves.
“I believe this amendment is a terrible idea, and it really has no chance of becoming law.
“Majority Leader Reid wants the vote anyway.
“He thinks that this outrageous amendment that he dreamed up will somehow help Democrats win elections this November.
“The Majority Leader has come to the floor repeatedly to criticize, and to demonize, American citizens who don’t share his views.
“It’s nothing but political grandstanding and showboating.
“Now President Obama was on ‘Meet the Press’ last Sunday.
“The president talked about what’s going on in Washington, the president said that ‘people want to get stuff done.’
“That’s what he says the American people want from their representatives here in Congress.
“So if the American people want us to get stuff done, why are the Democrats in the Senate so determined to do nothing?
“Why are they wasting time on political show votes?
“Why are they not allowing amendments and debate on important bills?
“Why are they blocking legislation that has passed the House of Representatives – with bipartisan support – and is right now sitting on Senator Reid’s desk waiting for a vote?
“Our nation faces great challenges, many Americans are hurting.
“Republicans have solutions that will create jobs while strengthening our energy security, improving our health care, and cutting government red tape.
“New numbers came out just last week that show that America’s labor force participation rate is at just about the lowest level it’s been in decades.
“The House of Representatives – where Republicans are in charge of the schedule – well they passed more than 40 bills to help get Americans back to work.
“Those bills are right now sitting in the Senate, waiting for a vote.
“Is that what the president means when he says ‘people want to get stuff done?’
“There’s a headline in Politico, a local newspaper, on Tuesday morning and it read: ‘Majority says President Obama a failure.’
“A new poll found that 52 percent of Americans think that the Obama presidency has been a failure.
“So what do Washington Democrats do in response?
“Absolutely nothing.
“People want Washington to deal with the challenges that matter most in their lives, in their individual lives.
“Now we could start by doing something about the president’s health care law, it is causing so much harm to people across the country.
“A bipartisan plan has already passed the House that would stop the employer mandate that businesses provide expensive Washington-mandated health insurance.
“That part of the president’s health care law forces small businesses to cut hours – to cut hours – therefore cutting paychecks for the workers and is also holding back hiring.
“Now we should take up that legislation here in the Senate.
“We should restore people’s freedom to buy health insurance that actually works for them, works for their families – because people know what works best for them. They don’t need Washington to tell them.
“We should replace the president’s health care law with reforms that actually get people the care that they need, from a doctor that they choose, at lower costs.
“The people that I talk with back home in Wyoming are also worried about energy costs – especially as it’s starting to get colder in much of the country.
“Washington should be looking for ways to help Americans produce more affordable, reliable, and efficient energy right here at home. The opportunity is there.
“Now that would mean jobs for American families, it would also mean energy security for our nation.
“We could start right now by approving the Keystone XL pipeline it’s been six years since the applications been sitting waiting for action.
“A bill to do that passed the House of Representatives – again, with bipartisan support. Why aren’t we voting on that today in the United States Senate?
“The Obama Administration admits that the pipeline would actually support thousands of good American jobs.
“The application to build the Keystone Pipeline has been stalled for six years – the administration should demand action today.
“Now, if the president won’t do it, Congress still could and should.
“Then Congress should pass legislation to speed up exports of liquefied natural gas.
“Our nation has abundant supplies of natural gas, and producers want to export it to customers around the world who are seeking it.
“The Obama administration has delayed the permits to let them do it – and Democrats right here in the Senate have delayed the bipartisan solution that’s already passed the House.
“We should take a vote on that bill today and pass it.
“We should pass a bill that would reform the regulations blocking energy production on federal lands.
“We should end the Obama administration’s pointless and destructive war on coal – and let the men and women across, this country, who work in that industry, get their jobs and their lives back.
“American businesses are waiting to create jobs – the only thing standing in the way is the Senate majority leader.
“Senate Democrats don’t want to vote, they don’t want to vote to help the millions of Americans who are out of the labor force.
“They would rather protect the Washington bureaucracy, a bureaucracy that slows down and stifles economic growth.
“Cutting through the red tape to help Americans get back to work is one of the top priorities of Republicans, and it should be the top priority of every Senator in this body.
“We could do it by passing a bill – one that has already passed the House – that would rein excessive regulations that makes it tougher for small businesses to invest, to grow, and to hire.
“We could pass another bill from the House that helps businesses defend themselves against abusive patent lawsuits.
“Now that’s going to help small businesses hire more people and help them grow – and 130 Democrats in the House voted in favor of it. Why aren’t we voting on that today?
“It can’t get a simple up or down vote in the Senate. The majority leader will not bring it to the floor.
“Why won’t he allow it?
“Bill after bill, one bill after another that Republicans have offered, Republicans have passed in the House of Representatives, bipartisan bills, and the Senate Democrats don’t want to talk about them.
“They don’t want to talk about Republican ideas for tax reform. Tax reform that would lower tax rates, make the whole tax system simpler and more fair.
“They don’t want to talk about Republican ideas to strengthen and stabilize entitlement programs – like Social Security, Medicare – to make sure they are there for future generations.
“They certainly don’t want to talk about Republican ideas to address Washington’s out of control debt.
“Those are the kinds of things we should be talking about today on the floor of the United States Senate.
“Those are the things Republicans have proposed, and that we’re going to keep fighting for in the Senate.
“That’s what the American people are talking about when they say they want Washington to get stuff done.
“They don’t mean more terrible ideas like the president’s health care law, and its multiple, damaging side effects.
“They don’t mean job-killing red tape and Washington mandates.
“They don’t mean political show votes that would restrict Americans’ freedom of speech.
“President Obama and Democrats in the Senate have turned their backs on middle-class families who are desperately in need of jobs.
“Democrats want to waste time while they’re trying to salvage their political careers.
“Republicans want to help get Americans back to work.”
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