U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) along with House and Senate members of the Congressional Western Caucus Thursday unveiled, the “Jobs Frontier” congressional report. The pro-growth plan aims to create and retain jobs in the West and across the country, providing more than 40 legislative solutions that will cut red tape, develop American energy and break down barriers to private sector job creation.
“The Western Caucus’ ‘Jobs Frontier’ report is all about putting forward solutions to create jobs and get more Americans back to work. It will help develop the next frontier of job creation efforts for our country,” said Hatch.
Hatch continued, “Western states are not immune to the weakened economy, but many of our states – such as Utah – have lower unemployment rates than the national average and can help lead us to economic prosperity. One such area where the West can lead is domestic energy production.”
In the “Jobs Frontier” report, Western Caucus Members highlight over 40 legislative solutions that will create jobs by:
1.В Increasing Affordable American Energy
2.В Exploring for American Oil and Natural Gas
3.В Strengthening the American Mining Sector
4. Overturning Washington’s Overreach
5.В Promoting Agriculture, Ranching and Forestry
6.В Supporting Recreation, Hunting and Public Land Access
7.В Eliminating Backdoor Cap and Tax Regulations
8.В Reducing Junk Lawsuits
Senator Hatch was joined by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), John Thune (R-SD), and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and U.S. Reps.В Steven Pearce (R-NM), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Corey Gardner (R-CO), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) at an event earlier todayВ in the U.S. Capitol.
Below, is the full text of Senator Hatch’s remarks:
“Later tonight we’re going to hear the President offer more of the same failed economic policies that he’s been pushing since he took office.
What he should do is look at new solutions that we know will promote economic growth and create jobs.
And that’s what the Western Caucus’ “Jobs Frontier” report is all about – putting forward solutions to create jobs and get more Americans back to work.
Western states are not immune to the weakened economy, but many of our states – such as Utah – have lower unemployment rates than the national average and can help lead us to economic prosperity.
One such area where the West can lead is domestic energy production.
The President likes to promote green energy companies – like the one that just announced it was going bankrupt last week – but he should not do it at the detriment of American-made energy that has been creating jobs for centuries.
We have American energy sitting under acres and acres of federally-controlled land that is ripe for production, but President Obama and his liberal allies continue to keep it closed off to play into his anti-oil agenda.
It’s only getting worse. Rather than streamline an over-bureaucratic system, the Bureau of Land Management would ADD a whole new layer of red tape that is completely unnecessary, very expensive, and duplicative.
The Western Energy alliance recently released a survey that found that $1 billion has already been shifted away from the Rockies and that $3 billion in future investments will continue to be shifted to other regions.В It needs to stop.
Harnessing American energy creates American jobs to help American families. It’s a win-win-win for the economy.
Increasing affordable American energy is just one of the eight planks of this jobs report.
I’m pleased to stand up here with my colleagues to unveil these forward thinking proposals and working with them to develop the next frontier of job creation efforts for our country.“