Congresswoman McCollum's Town Hall Remarks at the North Central States Council of Carpenters

Good evening! Thank you John for that introduction and the North Central States Council of Carpenters for hosting this discussion. It is so good to be with you tonight to talk about the number one challenge facing America: creating good jobs.

Our country is still struggling to recover from the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. That crisis at the end of the Bush Administration dug a deep hole we are still climbing out almost three years later.

My top focus – and President Obama's top focus – is tackling the jobs deficit, putting Americans back to work, and getting the economy growing faster. Our country is struggling to get out of this hole because we are not united in our focus on creating jobs.

American workers are in crisis and the Congress is divided. Democrats are trying to focus on jobs and push forward, but Republicans keep pulling us backward with political games. Since the Republican Tea Party took control of the House, they have created one crisis after another.

Each crisis was avoidable. All were about playing politics – not creating jobs.

Remember the stand-off last December when Republicans held the extension of unemployment insurance and middle-class tax cuts hostage until billionaires got tax additional cuts? That was just the beginning. Shutdown politics almost prevented me from being here tonight.

Tea Party Republicans in the House threatened to shut-down the federal government this week. They passed a short-term funding bill that would cut 10,000 clean energy manufacturing jobs to pay for disaster relief for victims of tornadoes, floods and hurricanes!

The Tea Party's crisis government is undermining confidence in the economy and hurting job creation. It is shaking Americans faith in the ability of Washington to solve real problems – especially the jobs deficit. These political games in Washington are hurting people – people in this community, people in this room!

Let me give you an example. Ramsey County came into my St. Paul office this month to say that their triple-A credit rating – the highest possible rating – is under review by Moody's. Moody's told the County they didn't do anything wrong. They said the federal government's default crisis and state government shutdown may cause them to downgrade Ramsey County's credit.

We all heard about the State's downgrade this week. Ramsey County explained that if they get downgraded, it will cost them more to borrow money. That means higher property taxes, less services, or fewer construction jobs.

Connect the dots: Tea Party politics in Washington and St. Paul are destroying jobs in this community. This is unacceptable to me. You deserve better from your leaders.

I have been in Congress for 11 years now. I can tell you, this is something new. The Republican Tea Party is trying to re-write the rules of the game.

I'm going to read you this slide – which is a letter to the editor written by my former House colleague – Republican Jim Ramstad.

The Republican Tea Party is willing to break the system in order to get what they want. What do they want?

• They want to crush organized labor;
• End Medicare as we know it;
• Slash common-sense regulations (bipartisan Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act) that protect the health and safety of American families and workers;
• Repeal the Affordable Care Act (health care reform)– throw all of us back into a system where insurance companies can refuse our families health care we paid for when we need it most;
• Protect tax subsidies for big oil companies AND eliminate investments in clean technology;
• Protect tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires BUT cut federal funding for everything we care about in our communities: schools, police, small business, parks, life-saving health research, roads, bridges, transit . . . the list goes on and on!

That's the Republican Tea Party's vision for this country. To me – that's a nightmare. That's not the country I grew up in. That's not the country I plan to leave to my children.

I have a different vision for this country. No more political games and no more crisis government.

I want to put people back to work, and I want those workers to have rights. I want people who have worked all their lives to be able to retire with dignity and security, and I want their grandchildren to have access to good schools that prepare them for a lifetime of success. I believe we all want to live in a community with safe roads, safe food, and clean air and water.

I want to rebuild our community and our country – starting with the Central Corridor and Union Depot – that are putting 6,400 of our friends and neighbors to work. These are my values because they are the values of the community where I was raised, the community I live in, and the community I am proud to represent.

I'm here to tell you tonight that these are President Obama's values too.

On September 8, the President came to Congress calling for an end to the political games and calling on us to work together to attack unemployment. He offered a concrete plan – the American Jobs Act – to get Americans back to work, put more money in the pockets of working Americans, and grow the economy. I brought a summary of the plan – most of you picked up a copy when you came in tonight.

Overall, the American Jobs Act includes $447 billion of investments in America's communities and families. Nearly all the ideas in this proposal are bipartisan ideas that have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans in the past. The President put a plan on the table to pay for his proposal.

Let me be clear, the American Jobs Act would not add a dime to the deficit.

This plan will help rebuild America with immediate investments in infrastructure. It includes $50 billion to build and repair highways, bridges, rail, aviation and transit systems. Minnesota would get $608 million for these kinds of projects. That money would support 7,900 Minnesota jobs. The President wants to modernize at least 35,000 public schools nationwide. Minnesota would get almost $275 million to fix up our schools. That would support as many as 3,600. Many of these infrastructure investments would boost small contractors and suppliers in our community – and save energy. When you save energy, you save money and natural resources.

The President's American Jobs Act supports working families and small employers with tax cuts and credits. The President wants to cut your payroll taxes in half next year. That's a savings of nearly $1,500 for a household in Minnesota earning $56,000. The legislation also cuts the payroll taxes paid by small business in half. That would help 120,000 Minnesota companies.

The American Jobs Act extends unemployment insurance. That would prevent over 13,000 Minnesotans from losing this financial life-line.

The President's proposal also includes commitments to keep America stable, safe and strong. Across the country, he wants to keep 280,000 teachers in the classroom whose jobs are threatened by state and local cuts.

The President includes funding for local governments to prevent layoffs – and restart hiring – for police officers and firefighters. Minnesota would get over $500 million to support these efforts. That would save and create as many as 3,600 Minnesota jobs.

President Obama came to Congress with a plan big enough to make a difference in this jobs crisis. There are more details – and many more benefits – in this proposal. So be sure to look over your summary and go to the website on the bottom for more information.

Here's the reaction of economists - so far, economists are saying good things.

Economist Mark Zandi of Moody Analytics – a former McCain Presidential advisor – said the American Jobs Act would, "Go a long way toward stabilizing confidence, forestalling another recession, and jump-starting a self-sustaining economic expansion." Zandi went on to say that if the plan was fully implemented, "It would increase real GDP growth in 2012 by 2 percentage points, add 1.9 million jobs, and reduce the unemployment rate by a full percentage point, compared with current fiscal policy...". Zandi said the risk of another recession is the highest in 2 years and that decisive action is needed from policy makers.

But here's what we're up against. Last October, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." (National Journal: October 29, 2010)

The Republicans are stalling on the American Jobs Act because they think it will work, the economy will improve, and President Obama's support will increase.

What's most important to me – and the President – is not an election in 14 months. It's helping the millions of Americans who are struggling to find work now! What's important to Democrats is the urgent need to re-build this country and our future. The American Jobs Act is full of proven, common-sense job-creation ideas that we should all be pushing for.

It is time to put politics aside, put American families first, and pass this bill.

I need your help to get this done. If you live in another District – contact your Member of Congress and tell them to pass this bill. Together – reasonable Republicans, Democrats and Independents – can pass this bill, put America back to work, and grow this economy.

Now I want to hear from you – your reactions, your concerns, your ideas.