07.07.11

Rep. George Miller Statement on June Jobs Report

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement on the June jobs report released today. 
 
“The June jobs report is sobering and of course very disappointing. Hopefully it will wake up those in Washington who still have not made job creation their priority.
 
“Tragically, the Tea Party Republicans came into town saying that we can cut our way into new jobs. As the June report and reports over the last few months show, their ill-advised cuts have instead severely stalled job growth. 
 
“Shortsighted immediate cuts to transportation, kids’ health care, research and development, the green energy sector, heating assistance, and childcare will not solve our deficit problem, but they are hurting our economy and job creation.
 
"Economists warned us that the economy is still fragile and we should not withdraw federal investments prematurely, but that's what the House Republicans demanded and middle class Americans are paying the price. Combined with cuts at the state and local level, this approach is catastrophic. 
 
"And they want to cut even more jobs.  Just look at their transportation bill that would cut 490,000 jobs in its first year alone. 
 
“The fact is that our long-term budget deficit will only be significantly reduced when America gets back to work. Today’s report shows that while we must take the deficit and debt seriously, and we are, we must also do no harm to the economy in any deal on the debt and deficits.”