Workforce Chair: On Efforts to Bolster Economic Security, House Democrats Have Watched from the Sidelines

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As U.S. House Democrats once again attempted to define their agenda on jobs and the economy, U.S. House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA) today noted a sharp distinction between the priorities touted by House Democrats and their actual voting history on those same issues.  House Democrats held a forum on economic security this morning, in spite of their partisan opposition to legislation aimed at growing the economy, safeguarding retirement savings, increasing American competitiveness, and expanding access to quality health care.

“The House Democrat record just doesn’t square with their rhetoric,” said McKeon.  “House Republicans have passed measures to protect worker pensions, improve job training services, expand access to college, and reduce the number of uninsured working families.  But House Democrats instead have chosen to watch from the sidelines as we’ve advanced legislation to seize upon the incredible momentum our economy and workforce have experienced over the past several years.”

Since August 2003, more than 5.7 million new jobs have been created and the unemployment rate of 4.7 percent for August 2006 is a full percentage point lower than the average rate in the 1990s.  At the same time, wages are increasing more than 150 percent faster than in the early 1990s, with the average level of worker compensation seven percent higher in 2005 than in 2000.

Refusing to rest on good news alone, House Republicans have led efforts to bolster economic security even further, passing legislation to strengthen education, improve job training, expand access to quality health care, and safeguard retirement savings.  House Democrats have opposed these efforts at nearly every turn.  Below is a mere sampling of these proposals:

• HOUSE DEMOCRATS OPPOSED the Pension Protection Act (H.R. 4 on July 28, 2006), which includes tough new funding requirements to ensure employers adequately and consistently fund their pension plans, encourages greater retirement savings and personal control over those savings, and extends highly-popular “529” college savings plans.

• HOUSE DEMOCRATS OPPOSED the College Access & Opportunity Act (H.R. 609 on March 30, 2006), which would expand college access by strengthening the Pell Grant program, provide parents and students with more information about spikes in college costs, and bolster math and science education to enhance American competitiveness.

• HOUSE DEMOCRATS OPPOSED the Deficit Reduction Act (S. 1932 4 on February 1, 2006), which establishes new grant aid to reward low-income, high achieving college students in their first and second years, as well as low-income, high achieving students pursuing degrees in math, science, and critical foreign languages in their third and fourth years.

• HOUSE DEMOCRATS OPPOSED the Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R. 525 on July 26, 2005), which would create association health plans to allow small businesses to band together through associations and purchase quality health care for workers and their families at a lower cost.

• HOUSE DEMOCRATS OPPOSED the Job Training Improvement Act (H.R. 27 on March 2, 2005), which would reform and strengthen job training programs to help job seekers take advantage of new opportunities in America’s growing and changing economy.

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