WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Renee Ellmers released the following statement from her office in Washington this evening:

“President Obama ran for office on the message of hope and change. Now, three years into his presidency, things have changed – they have gotten worse. Nearly 2 million more people are out of work and we have witnessed the longest period of sustained high unemployment since the Great Depression. Three years ago, the hard working American tax payers were told that Congress 'must pass' President Obama’s stimulus package so unemployment wouldn’t go above 8 percent. Yet, unemployment has remained over 8 percent for most of the months he’s been in office."

"It is clear that the president’s policies are not working. Now he is going into all-out campaign mode by blaming others for his failures and practicing the politics of envy and division."

"What continues to concern me is how this president continues to say one thing, yet make governing decisions that do the other. While the President talks about the need for shovel-ready jobs, just last week his Administration tried to bury over 20,000 new private sector jobs with his Keystone pipeline decision. While he said he wanted a transparent Administration, we now learn that one of his biggest donors, Warren Buffett, owns a railroad that stood to benefit significantly by denying the Keystone pipeline."

"We need leaders that recognize that the answers to our problems are found in the innovation and ingenuity of the American people. To unleash their great power, we need to get Washington out of the way. My colleagues and I have been working since last January to create an environment where America’s job creators and America’s job seekers could begin to thrive once again. We have passed over 30 bi-partisan jobs bills – 27 of which are still awaiting action by the Senate. These bills addressed the real drivers of our debt and included fundamental pro-growth tax reform. They also eliminated corporate loopholes and subsidies to help create more job opportunities like Keystone while ending taxpayer-funded bailouts like Solyndra."

"President Obama’s economy is on life support and he is refusing to do what it takes to save it. After three years, we all have to ask ourselves, has it gotten any better and do we really want to gamble on making things even worse?”

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For more information, please visit Congresswoman Ellmers’ website at www.ellmers.house.gov or call (202) 225-4531.

Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter @RepReneeEllmers

Tom Doheny

Press Secretary

Congresswoman Renee Ellmers R-NC-2

Washington, DC