Press Releases

“Forty years ago tomorrow, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was enacted to remove barriers to equal opportunity in education and school athletics.  This was a milestone that enabled the achievements of the tens of millions of American women who have since participated in the full range of educational and athletic opportunities this country has to offer.  

“I commend Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee, led by Ranking Member Sandy Levin and joined by Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen, for introducing the Invest in America Now Act. This important legislation extends the bipartisan 100% bonus depreciation deduction that provides businesses with an incentive to invest in new equipment and growing their capacity, which will help create jobs. This extension is paid for by eliminating an unnecessary tax break for the largest oil and gas companies, which have been making record profits. 

“On June 19, 1865, when U.S. Army Major Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation to the people of Galveston, Texas, the words fell upon the ears of the despairing and enslaved but settled in the hopeful hearts of free men and women.  On that day, a new page was turned in our history, as the last of America’s slaves learned of their emancipation, and the new birth of freedom – of which Abraham Lincoln had spoken – began to stir the dreams of millions eager to take their lives into their own hands. 

As we return from the ninth full week of recess since the 112th Congress reconvened in January, House Republicans continue to pursue an extreme agenda that ignores our challenges of creating jobs and furthering our economic recovery.  We have only twenty-four legislative days remaining before August’s five-week district work period. Furthermore, the House is only scheduled to be in session for eight legislative days in September and a mere five in October.

Today, we heard President Obama lay out a plan for America’s economic future to provide businesses with certainty, to create jobs for the middle class, and to pay down our debt. The American people understand what’s at stake this year: the progress of our economic recovery and the potential for a new generation of prosperity. The path laid out by the President is the right way to further our recovery, as demonstrated by the success of our auto industry after Democrats took action to prevent automakers from going bankrupt. 

For over a quarter century, John Gage has dedicated his career to making sure that government employees can focus on working on behalf of Americans instead of having to worry about receiving the pay and benefits they have earned through their service.  As national president of the American Federation of Government Employees for the past nine years, John has been a tireless defender of our nation’s public servants during a time when they have been asked to do more with less.  Under his leadership, AFGE has continued to be a leading voice for the collective bargaining rights of all our workers in this country.  The son of a Pittsburgh steel worker and union member, John was raised among working families who saw organized labor not only as a means to defend rights but also to strengthen entire communities and help them achieve the American Dream. 

CBO’s Long-Term Budget Outlook makes it abundantly clear that our long-term structural problems should be just as concerning as the looming fiscal cliff, including the budget sequester, facing us at the end of this year.  CBO’s report is a warning that we must get our fiscal house in order by achieving big and balanced deficit reduction that includes both spending and revenues. Cutting domestic spending alone won’t work, and it will require both parties working together.  I still believe this is a goal we must pursue in Congress this year – and one that is achievable.   Doing so would provide certainty to businesses that have been holding back investment and could constitute the single greatest stimulus to our economy and job creation. 

For LGBT Americans and their families, this year’s Pride Month comes at a particularly hopeful moment for LGBT equality in America.  From support for same-sex marriage growing across the country, to this week’s federal circuit court ruling that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, to the end of the military’s discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy last year, there is a real and tangible sense that our nation is moving closer to full equality.

This morning’s jobs report shows that Congressional Republicans’ do-nothing, confrontation over compromise approach to jobs isn’t working.  While we continued to see the private sector add jobs for the twenty-seventh straight month, our unemployment rate has slipped back up to 8.2 percent from the three-year record low of 8.1 percent last month.  While the President and Democrats in Congress have been promoting a jobs-first agenda to provide certainty to American businesses and workers, Republicans continue to avoid addressing serious job creation in favor of ideological bills. 

I am extremely disappointed that Republicans are asking federal employees to take a freeze in pay for a third year in a row.  Federal employees have already accepted two consecutive pay freezes with the knowledge that the savings would be applied toward meeting our nation’s fiscal challenges.  At the same time Republicans were asking federal employees to contribute, they refused to ask the same of millionaires and billionaires. 

I was honored to join the President today as he signed into law a bipartisan reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank.  Democrats unanimously supported this bill in the House, and it is an important part of House Democrats’ Make It In America plan for job creation and long-term economic competitiveness. 

John Lewis was our lead sponsor on this particular piece of legislation, joined by an awful lot of people on our side of the aisle representing majority groups and representing minority groups. What John Lewis was saying was: look, in America we ought to facilitate, encourage, and make easier voting. Not doing what is happening in so many states, Al, trying to make voting more difficult to do. We want to modernize registration, we want to have a responsibility of the state and local subdivision to make sure voters are on the registration rolls and make sure they are included. We want to make sure that people with disabilities have access to the polls.