Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, last Friday, we got new numbers from the Labor Department in terms of jobs and how American workers are doing. The unemployment rate is now down to 3.9 percent. It is the lowest it has been in 17 years. One analyst from the network CNBC said: ``That's a wow number.''

The American economy has created 3 million jobs since President Trump took office. There are 3 million Americans who are now earning a paycheck instead of waiting for a government check. We have gotten 304,000 new manufacturing jobs since President Trump took office. There are 352,000 new construction jobs and 84,000 new jobs in the mining and logging industries. Compare this to when Democrats in Congress and in the last administration launched an all-out War on Coal. There are 84,000 new jobs in mining and logging.

Republicans ended the War on Coal. We struck down a major Democratic regulation that would have crippled the mining industry. We showed industries like manufacturing, construction, logging, and mining that we want people doing these jobs. We want people back to work. Employers have responded all around the country by hiring more people, and that makes the economy grow.

So far Republicans in Congress have gotten rid of 16 major regulations since President Trump took office--wiped them off the books completely. We have shown that Republicans are serious about cutting redtape and loosening Washington's stranglehold on our economy. Because we got rid of these rules, Americans have saved as much as $36 billion over time. That is the cost for families and businesses jumping through the hoops and filling out the paperwork that government had previously demanded.

The latest one of these regulations that were repealed was just last month. Republicans in the Senate passed a resolution to help save people money when they are shopping for a car. We got rid of a rule that the Obama administration had written to restrict how car dealers handled financing offers to buy a car. The rule was done in a way that was actually contrary to the law. It also had the potential to limit choices for consumers. We want consumers to have more choices. Republicans in the Senate voted to get rid of this unnecessary, burdensome regulation.

President Trump has been very active in getting rid of excessive regulations as well. One of the first things he did as President was to issue an order cutting redtape. He said that for every significant new rule any agency wanted to write, it had to get rid of two rules. For every one new rule, get rid of two. That is how this administration has made a difference in Congress.

The results so far have been even better than anyone had expected. The nonpartisan American Action Forum has been tracking the numbers. This is what they said. They looked at all the rules that agencies have been working on for the fiscal year we are in now--since last October. Agencies have cut 35 major regulations of the kind the President was talking about--cut 35. At the same time, they have written only five new major regulations. Major regulations are defined by how much money it costs people. President Trump said that he would cut two for every one new regulation, but so far, in terms of major regulations, he has cut seven for every new one.

Of course, one of the most important things Republicans have done in helping the economy--in addition to the regulations--has been passing the tax relief law. This law means that we now have a simpler tax system. We now have a fairer system, and we have a system that is much less expensive for American families. Almost immediately, hard-working Americans started seeing more money in their paychecks. People got bonuses at work. People got raises. People are seeing it.

Tax cuts have been good for American families, and they have been good for the American economy as well. The Congressional Budget Office says that the economy is going to grow by more than 3 percent this year--by more than 3 percent. That is much faster than it was growing for the previous years after the recession. The office actually went back and increased their estimates for economic growth. Why? Because of the tax relief law, the tax cuts.

Wages are up nearly 3 percent from a year ago. People are seeing it all across the country. Again, that is much faster growth than we had under the previous administration. When you figure in lower taxes, people's real take-home pay is up even more.

Democratic policies led to stagnant wages for Americans. Republican policies have allowed wages to grow much more quickly. Millions of people have gotten new jobs that didn't exist before. Millions of other people have been able to switch jobs, move up in their careers, and make more money.

Overall, hiring this past month, April, went up by 20 percent compared to April of last year. It is a huge increase. A lot of these jobs are being created by small businesses.

Last week was Small Business Week across America. I visited a number of business owners across the State of Wyoming. Small business owners know that the government can either create opportunity or crush opportunity, based on regulations, mandates, and taxes. That is the kind of change that is possible under Republican pro-growth policies-- creating opportunities, not crushing opportunities, as we have seen before. It is things like a national economy that is growing larger and growing faster that the American people are seeing today. Their lives are better today than they were in 2016. It is things like a small business being free to expand because it doesn't have to waste so much time and money on taxes and paperwork and government redtape--things like making sure America takes less money out of people's paychecks, letting people keep more of their hard-earned money.

When you have policies that make life easier for families and for businesses, good things happen across America. People in my home State of Wyoming get it. They are seeing it, they are experiencing it, and they are living it every day. They understand that what Republicans are doing in Congress helps them at home. That is why we are going to keep doing what we are doing, and we are going to keep going on. We are going to keep cutting regulations. We are going to keep building an ``America First'' economy that is strong, that is healthy, that is growing, so it can create more opportunities for everyone. That is what Republicans have promised to do. It is what we should be doing. It is what we are going to do. It is what we are going to continue to do. It is what we are delivering in Congress and in the White House for the American people.

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