Steve Pearce: The Jobs Frontier Report (Cont'd)

This week, the Senate and Congressional Western Caucuses introduced the Jobs Frontier report.  This report highlights over 40 pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the US House and Senate. These proposals protect jobs placed in jeopardy by the Obama Administration’s reckless proposals, and offers specific ideas to create jobs throughout the West.  It is the starting point for new ideas that will actually provide Americans with more jobs. 

While the President talks about creating jobs, his proposed regulations on manufacturing, energy development and production will cost 11.5 million Americans their jobs.  Many of these jobs are in the West, where his Greenhouse Gas regulations will kill 1.4 million jobs, his new utility regulations would eliminate another 1.4 million jobs, and where delays to onshore oil and gas lease cost another 504,000 jobs.

The “Jobs Frontier” report offers specific ideas to immediately create jobs. For instance, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act offered by Congressman Gosar (R-AZ) would pave the way for a copper mine in Superior, Arizona and immediately bring 1400 new jobs to an area in desperate need. The San Joaquin Valley legislation offered by Congressman Nunes (R-CA) would bring 25-30,000 jobs back to California. Other legislation like the three Outer-Continental Shelf bills offered by Congressman Hastings (R-WA) would create 250,000 short term jobs and over 1.2 million jobs in the long term.

It is time for President Obama to stop pointing fingers, accept that his policies have failed, and listen to the people who actually represent the West about how to create jobs in the West. Americans desperately need jobs—a place to work, a way to feed their families. For over two years, Washington has failed them.
These people know best how get the West working again. They know the promise of simple freedom and hard work. They have expressed their concerns to their representatives in Congress, and those representatives have listened. Those representatives understand the vast potential and hard working nature of those they represent. They have responded by drafting legislation that will unleash that potential by creating good, lasting American jobs. Instead of blaming Congress, the President should take action on the proposals they have submitted. The American people deserve no less.