Press Releases

Rep. John Kline, Chairman of the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee, today expressed strong concern with administration proposals and policies that are having a chilling effect on America’s job creators. For 20 consecutive months unemployment has remained above 9 percent and 14.5 million Americans remain unemployed. It is imperative government policies not undermine efforts by entrepreneurs and small business owners to invest in new opportunities and hire new workers. Chairman Kline discussed the Democrats’ health care law as a specific proposal that is causing concerns for business owners both large and small.

“We have all heard the story of a small business owner already struggling to make payroll who now faces a penalty for failing to provide government-approved health care,” said Chairman Kline.  “Despite promises health care reform would lower costs, the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports national health care spending will increase by $311 billion over the next 10 years. ObamaCare has forced business owners to choose between higher health care costs or government penalties.  To suggest this doesn’t discourage job creation in this country is to ignore reality.”

The remarks were delivered during the committee’s first hearing of the 112th Congress, which examined broadly the state of the American workforce. Members heard testimony from Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who discussed the economic progress underway in his home state while also expressing his concern with actions in Washington that may undermine that success.

“We are encouraged by the growth we have seen – slow and steady as it may be – and the steps we are taking to ramp up that growth are working, but there still remains a lot of work to do,” said Governor McDonnell. “However, no matter what pro-free market and job-creation steps we take in Virginia, we cannot avoid the fact that what happens here in Washington can cancel much of it out and make our work that much more difficult.”

Dyke Messinger, president and CEO of a small manufacturing business in Salisbury, North Carolina, described the challenges facing manufacturers: “Proposals that increase taxes and impose new regulations will make business in the United States less competitive. These proposals will stifle the already weak recovery and destroy manufacturers’ ability to create jobs.  Manufacturers need policymakers in Washington to embrace policies and solutions that will ensure that the United States is the greatest place in the world to be a manufacturer and to be a manufacturing employee, because manufacturing means jobs.”

The Committee also heard testimony from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist with vast experience examining federal policies, who discussed both the challenges facing families and employers and the need for pro-growth policies. Dr. Holtz-Eakin also underscored the need for education reform: “Education reform – using education dollars more effectively, increasing choice, and improving measures of accountability – is central to the success of the American workforce.”

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