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Senate Western Caucus

The Senate Western Caucus (SWC) is made up of Senators from Western and rural states who are committed to upholding the fundamental principles of the West. Western Republicans on both sides of Capitol Hill are unified behind a Western approach to solving America's problems.

Senate Western Caucus Membership

Senator John Barrasso (R-WY)
Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Senator John Boozman (R-AR)
Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)
Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY)
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
Senator Dean Heller (R-NV)
Senator John Hoeven (R-ND)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)
Senator John McCain (R-AZ)
Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Senator Jim Risch (R-ID)
Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Senator John Thune (R-SD)
Senator David Vitter (R-LA)
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Barrasso: Western Caucus Ideas Will Put Americans Back to Work

“What the American people want is a plan, a plan that will yield results. They want leadership, and they have rejected the President's insistence that the only way forward is through more spending.”


September 8, 2011


Click here to watch the speech.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate about the Western Caucus “Jobs Frontier” report. 

Excerpts of his remarks are below:

“The facts really are inescapable. Since President Obama took office, America has lost approximately 2.3 million jobs. We are in an economic crisis, a crisis that extends to America's confidence in the president to do anything that will change the current course. What the American people want is a plan, a plan that will yield results. They want leadership, and they have rejected the president's insistence that the only way forward is through more spending.

“Today, western members of the Senate and House are calling on the President to accept a new way, a pro-growth plan to create jobs in the west that will lead to broader economic recovery all across the country. The Western Caucus Jobs Frontier Report was produced by members of the Senate and House Western Caucuses. It contains legislative proposals already introduced in both houses of congress, and these are proposals that create jobs now.

“The proposals we support speak largely to the economic challenges faced by western states. They are also aimed at the ruinous regulations and reliance on foreign energy and lawsuit abuse that continues to stifle our entire economy. These bills are ready to pass. They are ready to create jobs today.

“Our bills, the ones in this report, will streamline the permitting process and break down the barriers imposed by president Obama. This will make it cheaper and easier, cheaper and easier for the private sector to create jobs. Westerners recognize that we can't pick and choose which forms of energy to support. When it comes to energy, we need it all and we need it now.

“That's why we need a bill that will let energy producers tap existing resources of American oil and natural gas. Our plan is a bill that will do that. It's called the ‘Domestic Jobs, Domestic Energy and Deficit Reduction Act.’ It's been introduced by both Representative Rob Bishop of Utah and David Vitter of Louisiana. This bill would force the Interior Department to stop blocking offshore energy exploration. That department's stall tactics have gone so far that even President Bill Clinton has called them ridiculous. The ‘Domestic Jobs, Domestic Energy and Deficit Reduction Act’ would force the Obama administration to quit stalling.

“The barrage of new regulations coming out of Washington continues to be a big, wet blanket, a big, wet blanket thrown over the job creators in our country. In July of 2011, this administration issued 229 rules, and it finalized 379 additional rules that are going to cost our job creators over $9.5 billion. That's in July alone. Our plan includes a bill that I have introduced called the ‘Employment Impact Act’. This bill forces Washington regulators to look, to look before they leap when it comes to regulations that could hurt American jobs. Under this bill that I have introduced, every regulatory agency would be required to prepare a Jobs Impact Statement.

“They have to do it with every new rule that they propose. That statement would include a detailed assessment of the jobs that would be lost or gained or sent overseas by any given rule. They would consider whether new rules would have a bad impact on our job market in general.

“Throughout our nation's history, American farmers and ranchers have provided an affordable, abundant and safe domestic supply of food and energy. While in recent years, America's agriculture and forestry industries have been increasingly threatened by the surge of regulations coming from Washington, especially those from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Our plan is going to push back. We will strengthen these industries and their ability to meet the world's growing food and energy needs. Westerners also recognize the mining sector is vital to our economic recovery. We know that the manufacturing jobs cannot be created without the raw materials needed to produce those goods.

“Well, since the Obama administration won't break down barriers to American minerals, our nation is growing increasingly dependent on foreign minerals, from countries like China and Russia. This inaction is unacceptable, and it is inexcusable. Our plan includes Senator Murkowski's bill, the ‘Critical Minerals Policy Act.’ That will ensure that the long-term viability of American mineral production will be there. Her bill will require the U.S. Geological survey to establish a list of minerals critical to the U.S. Economy, and then provide a comprehensive set of policies to address each economic sector that relies upon those critical minerals. It also creates a high-level interagency working group to optimize the efficiency of permitting in order to facilitate increased exploration and production of domestic critical minerals.

“There is a lot that needs to be done to fix our ailing economy. These are some ideas - western ideas that come from the lawmakers that know best how our rural communities are suffering and how we can get folks back to work. Many of these proposals come from the states. They have the support of our western governors and legislators. These are ideas not born in Washington. Recent jobless numbers confirm that the current approach from Washington has failed.

“If the President is serious about incorporating the ideas of every American in every part of the country, then he needs to look beyond Washington. I want to thank every member of the Senate and Congressional Western Caucuses for their work and their expertise on this report. I look forward to turning these ideas into policies and that way putting all of America back to work.”

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September 2011 Senate Western Caucus