Economy

Economy

While we continue to recover from the Great Recession, we have a long way to go.  Unemployment has dropped but the cost of health care, food, and energy are still rising, making it difficult for American families to make ends meet.  As your Representative in Congress, I will continue to support initiatives that create jobs, stimulate our economy and provide assistance to those struggling to find work.

Creating Jobs and Stimulating the National Economy

Today, the unemployment rate hovers around  5 percent. For years, Americans have suffered through layoffs and reduced hours as companies have scaled back, closed their doors or moved jobs overseas. The American people have made it very clear: our nation’s top priority needs to be job creation.  They want to get back to work and there is simply no better way to reduce our deficit and grow our economy than by creating jobs and strengthening the middle class.

Providing Job Training Opportunities

Over the last decade, our economic challenges have resulted in factories moving overseas and countless small businesses closing down, leaving fewer options for many hardworking Americans. Many have worked for years in their given field and are not prepared to transition into modern, growing industries.  These workers need training to give them the skills and experience to compete in the 21st Century economy. In an effort to boost the economy in Central Indiana, I worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to secure millions of dollars in funding for job training programs at Ivy Tech, the John H. Boner Center and other organizations around the city. This funding provided job-training and workforce development services to Hoosiers who just want to get back to work.

Lowering Taxes, Helping Millions of Americans and Stimulating the Economy

For those still actively looking for work, lowering taxes and extending unemployment benefits are two of the best ways to stimulate the economy by putting more cash in the pockets of millions of Americans. While some in Congress seem beholden to millionaires and billionaires, I advocated for extending and expanding payroll tax cuts for nearly 160 million working and middle class Americans. This will save the vast majority of Americans $1,000 a year and will incentivize six million small business owners to expand and hire more workers.

Stopped American Jobs From Going Overseas

America has lost over 50,000 factories and millions of manufacturing jobs in the last decade. Yet, we give tax breaks to companies closing plants here only to import their products back to America from factories they open overseas. We should be providing tax advantages to companies that choose to remain in the United States, employing American workers. We can only strengthen our middle class and protect against further job loss by changing our incentive structure. I favor ending tax breaks for outsourcing, and I strongly support giving tax credits to companies who hire American workers and either build facilities in America or re-open closed factories here.

Helping Rebuild American Manufacturing

From cars to planes to computers, America has always been a manufacturing leader. However, after a decade of jobs moving overseas, our manufacturing sector is nearing collapse. We can reverse these recent setbacks, but Congress must start providing incentives for investing in closed factories. We must make it more profitable for businesses to open plants in America than in China, Mexico, or other developing countries. This means we must support comprehensive investment in training our workforce, so American workers have the skills needed to compete and create products in demand globally—specifically in high-tech industries. We also must ensure federal assistance is targeted to business owners who employ American workers. If both parties in Congress work together to put our neighbors first, we can rebuild American manufacturing.

Fighting China’s Unfair Trade Practices That Cost U.S. Jobs

On a level playing field, American companies can outperform and out produce those in any other country. Unfortunately, China continues to allow unfair practices, such as stealing intellectual property and making our goods more expensive by manipulating their currency. These actions have cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs and forced companies to shut their doors. In this fragile economy, protecting jobs is my top priority. I have and will continue to support legislation that condemns China’s damaging trade policies and better protects American workers.

Protecting American Workers in Trade Agreements

I support fair trade that will create jobs for Americans and that will ensure workers around the world are not treated unfairly.  This is why I opposed “Fast Track” legislation that would prevent me from making improvements to future trade legislation. Every trade bill that comes up for a vote warrants careful consideration to make sure that it will help Hoosiers.  If I am not convinced that it helps American workers and businesses, I will vote against it.