Washington D.C. – Congressman Kevin McCarthy gave the following remarks in reaction to employment figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor showing an increase in unemployment to 9.1%

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"It's been more than 750 days and the Democrats have not passed a budget. Why would you wait to develop a long-term plan? This is a time for Sen. Harry Reid and the President to put the partisanship aside and put the country first."

TRANSCRIPT:

You heard from the Speaker and the Leader on the facts of what's out there. One of the things when you look at the jobs report, you sit back and wonder why? You saw a Keynesian view of more government spending from a stimulus to QE1 and QE2. Not only did the voters disagree with it, the numbers have disagreed with it. Today it takes the average unemployed 39.7 weeks to find a job. We have had 28 straight months with unemployment above 8%. You look back and wonder why? It's been more than 750 days and the Democrats have not passed a budget. Why would you wait to develop a long-term plan? This is a time for Harry Reid and the President to put the partisanship aside and put the country first. There are a number of bills that the House Republicans actually have passed - to roll back regulations, to focus small business. 70% of all new jobs start through small business. Let's put people before politics and get this country back to work.