Verona, PA -
Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) made the following statement in
reaction to this morning's jobs report that found that only 18,000 new
jobs were created in the month of June and that unemployment had risen
to 9.2%.
"This morning's
jobs report is one more sign that the current Administration's policies
are impeding economic growth in America," said Senator
Santorum.
"This past week in Iowa, I laid out a very clear vision for creating
jobs and growing our economy. I
would urge President Obama to go out and talk to the people in
America's heartland and hear their concerns, and I would hope that he
would see that they are looking for a President who believes in them
again and not continued reliance on ineffective, big government
bureaucracies. That is exactly what my plan to eliminate
the corporate tax burden for U.S. manufacturers, streamline the patent
and FDA approval process, and increase incentives for research and
development would do. I look forward to having this debate with
the President, because it is clear his plan is not working for America."
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
ON THE
MONTHLY JOBS REPORT
Rose Garden
11:05 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Obviously, over the
last
couple of days, the debate here in Washington has been dominated by
issues of debt limit, but what matters most to Americans, and what
matters most to me as President, in the wake of the worst downturn in
our lifetimes, is getting our economy on a sounder footing more broadly
so the American people can have the security they deserve.
And
that means getting back to a place where businesses consistently grow
and are hiring, where new jobs and new opportunity are within reach,
where middle-class families once again know the security and peace of
mind they’ve felt slipping away for years now. And today’s job
report
confirms what most Americans already know: We still have a long
way to
go and a lot of work to do to give people the security and opportunity
that they deserve.
We’ve
added more than 2 million new private sector jobs over the past 16
months, but the recession cost us more than 8 million. And that
means
that we still have a big hole to fill. Each new job that was
created
last month is good news for the people who are back at work, and for
the families that they take care of, and for the communities that
they’re a part of. But our economy as a whole just isn’t
producing
nearly enough jobs for everybody who’s looking.
We’ve
always known that we’d have ups and downs on our way back from this
recession. And over the past few months, the economy has
experienced
some tough headwinds -- from natural disasters, to spikes in gas
prices, to state and local budget cuts that have cost tens of thousands
of cops and firefighters and teachers their jobs. The problems in
Greece and in Europe, along with uncertainty over whether the debt
limit here in the United States will be raised, have also made
businesses hesitant to invest more aggressively.
The
economic challenges that we face weren’t created overnight, and they’re
not going to be solved overnight. But the American people expect
us to
act on every single good idea that’s out there. I read letter
after
letter from folks hit hard by this economy. None of them ask for
much. Some of them pour their guts out in these letters.
And they
want me to know that what they’re looking for is that we have done
everything we can to make sure that they are rewarded when they’re
living up to their responsibilities, when they’re doing right by their
communities, when they’re playing by the rules. That’s what
they’re
looking for, and they feel like the rules have changed. They feel
that
leaders on Wall Street and in Washington –- and believe me, no party is
exempt –- have let them down. And they wonder if their efforts
will
ever be reciprocated by their leaders.
They
also make sure to point out how much pride and faith they have in this
country; that as hard as things might be today, they are positive that
things can get better. And I believe that we can make things
better.
How we respond is up to us. There are a few things that we can
and
should do, right now, to redouble our efforts on behalf of the American
people.
Let
me give you some examples. Right now, there are over a million
construction workers out of work after the housing boom went bust, just
as a lot of America needs rebuilding. We connect the two by
investing
in rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our railways and our
infrastructure. And we could put back to work right now some of
those
construction workers that lost their jobs when the housing market went
bust. Right now, we can give our entrepreneurs the chance to let
their
job-creating ideas move to market faster by streamlining our patent
process. That’s pending before Congress right now. That
should pass.
Today,
Congress can advance trade agreements that will help businesses sell
more American-made goods and services to Asia and South America,
supporting thousands of jobs here at home. That could be done
right
now. Right now, there are a lot of middle-class families who sure
could use the security of knowing that the tax cut that I signed in
December to help boost the economy and put a thousand dollars in the
pockets of American families, that that’s still going to be around next
year. That’s a change that we could make right now.
There
are bills and trade agreements before Congress right now that could get
all these ideas moving. All of them have bipartisan
support. All of
them could pass immediately. And I urge Congress not to
wait. The
American people need us to do everything we can to help strengthen this
economy and make sure that we are producing more jobs.
Also
to put our economy on a stronger and sounder footing for the future,
we’ve got to rein in our deficits and get the government to live within
its means, while still making the investments that help put people to
work right now and make us more competitive in the future. As I
mentioned, we’ve had some good meetings. We had a good meeting
here
yesterday with leaders of both parties in Congress. And while
real
differences remain, we agreed to work through the weekend and meet back
here on Sunday.
The
sooner we get this done, the sooner that the markets know that the debt
limit ceiling will have been raised and that we have a serious plan to
deal with our debt and deficit, the sooner that we give our businesses
the certainty that they will need in order to make additional
investments to grow and hire and will provide more confidence to the
rest of the world as well, so that they are committed to investing in
America.
Now,
the American people sent us here to do the right thing not for party,
but for country. So we’re going to work together to get things
done on
their behalf. That’s the least that they should expect of us, not
the
most that they should expect of us. I’m ready to roll up my
sleeves
over the next several weeks and next several months. I know that
people in both parties are ready to do that as well. And we will
keep
you updated on the progress that we’re making on these debt limit talks
over the next several days. Thank you.
Q How was the meeting with Mrs. Pelosi?
THE PRESIDENT: It was good.
END
11:12
A.M.
EDT