America is Winning Again

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, America is winning again. Earlier this week marked the 500th day of the Trump-Pence administration.

Last Friday's new jobs report by the Department of Labor was a reminder of just how positive these first 500 days of the Trump administration have been for America. This is not just good news; this is great news for all Americans.

A New York Times headline proclaimed: ``We Ran Out of Words to Describe How Good the Jobs Numbers Are.''

According to CNBC, the headline was: ``There are more jobs than people out of work, something the American economy has never experienced before.''

The front page of the New York Post was more succinct. It said: ``We're in the Money.''

Here are just a few snapshots:

The national unemployment rate, down to just 3.8 percent, is now matching its lowest rate since 1969;

More than 1 million new jobs have been created since President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December;

More than 3.4 million new jobs have been created since the President took office, including 322,000 new jobs in manufacturing;

More than 6.6 million job openings now exist throughout the United States. This is an all-time high.

In that same New York Post edition, let me read to you some stats that I think are just outstanding. Let's look at unemployment in 2010 versus 2018, look at it by gender and by race.

In 2010, 9.6 percent of men were on unemployment; in 2018, 3.5 percent.

In 2010, 8.6 percent of women were unemployed; today, 3.3 percent.

For Blacks, in 2010, 16.6 percent were unemployed; today, 5.9 percent are unemployed.

Hispanics, in 2010, 12.9 percent were unemployed; today, 4.9 percent.

For Asian Americans, in 2010, 8.6 percent were unemployed; today, 2.1 percent.

By age, in the 16 to 19 category, in 2010, 26.2 percent were unemployed; today, in 2018, 12.8 percent.

In the 20 to 24 range, in 2010, 17.2 percent were unemployed; today, 7.1 percent.

In the 25 to 54 range, 8.9 percent in 2010 were unemployed; today, 3.1 percent.

And if it is 55 and older that you are looking at, in 2010, 7.4 percent were unemployed; today, 2.8 percent.

Wages for American workers have also steadily grown almost 3 percent over the past year, and they continue to climb.

Furthermore, according to the IMD World Competitiveness Center's 2018 ranking, the United States has already overtaken Hong Kong as the number one most competitive economy in the world, `` . . . thanks to faster economic growth and a supportive atmosphere for scientific and technological innovation.''

According to the International Energy Agency, the United States will be the world's largest oil producer by 2023.

None of this good news was inevitable. None of our country's economic momentum is accidental. Nothing about this historically strong economy and its benefits for every single American are guaranteed to be permanent. All of this great news was made possible by the conservative progrowth policies of this administration and this Congress: from lowering taxes to cutting red tape, to expanding energy production.

As we embark on the next 500 days of this Presidency, the facts cannot be denied both at home and abroad: America is winning again.

Mr. Speaker, I think that sometimes when you sit and listen to the talk on this floor, you would think that we are not all from a different universe; we are from different galaxies.

One side paints America as all gloom and doom and how horrible it is. The other side talks about opportunity, talks about job growth, talks about economic growth, and talks about how America is winning again.

I would ask my fellow Americans to remember this is the people's floor. It does not belong to Republicans, and it does not belong to Democrats. It belongs to the American people. We are winning again as a country, as both Republicans, Democrats, and independents. We are winning, and we will continue to win.

As I said earlier, nothing about this has been accidental, nothing about this has been casual, and none of this has happened by chance. It is pro-growth policy that continues to make sure that America wins again for every single American.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source