Congresswoman Matsui on President Obama's Jobs Address

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 8, 2011

CONTACT: MARA LEE
c: (202) 302-3249

Congresswoman Matsui on President Obama's Jobs Address

Tonight, Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (CA-05) released this statement following President Obama's address to a Joint Session of Congress about his jobs plan the American Jobs Act and the urgent need for Congress to pass it right away:

Our top priority must be creating jobs: it is certainly mine.

Over 100,000 people in the Sacramento region are unemployed, with thousands more struggling to make ends meet. Now is the time for bold action. Over 31,000 construction jobs have been lost over the last five years, and 16,000 state and local government jobs have also been lost. That is why I was encouraged to hear the President focus on creating construction jobs as we reinvest in our infrastructure and rebuild our local economies. That includes investments in projects ranging from flood protection, to road improvements, to rebuilding our schools. If we can turn our construction industry around and get the state and local government back on solid footing we can make real progress on our economic recovery.

At the same time, we must support our small businesses by providing them with the necessary tax breaks, and begin in earnest to diversify our economy by supporting clean technology, health IT, and other innovative areas of growth. Small businesses are the engine of our economy particularly in Sacramento and need incentives to begin investing and hiring again.

Finally, we must extend the tax cuts for middle class families, and continue to help those looking for work make ends meet by extending unemployment insurance benefits.

We should do what we know works to create jobs and the President tonight laid out a plan to do so.

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