Job creation key to financial security for both families and our nation

The message is clear: growing our economy and creating jobs remains our nation’s top priority.

As the United States continues to recover from the worst depression since the Great Depression, too many Americans still worry about whether they’ll have a job tomorrow. And as we debate our nation’s long-term fiscal security, we know that growing our economy is a surefire way to cut the deficit.

That’s why earlier this week, Rep. John B. Larson (CT), Democratic Caucus Chairman, proposed creating a bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Job Creation to work alongside the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to create jobs, grow our economy, and cut the deficit.

Here’s what Congressman Larson wrote in a letter to fellow Members of Congress:

From mid-May to the beginning of August, while the Congress focused its attention on a potential default and the nation’s long-term fiscal policies, 300,000 additional Americans found themselves out of work. While I don’t argue that we should ignore our long-term problems, I do believe that we have a more immediate and pressing short-term crisis that demands our attention. Nearly 14 million Americans currently find themselves unemployed, and this high unemployment poses a very real short-term fiscal crisis. Families are being forced out of their homes, children are being forced to forgo higher education, the elderly are being forced to retire early without nearly enough saved to cover their long-term costs. If not addressed, I believe the costs of unemployment will dramatically damage the United States’ status in the world and prevent us from emerging from this recession.

Today is now the 219th day without a jobs agenda under the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. We call on Republican leaders to put aside partisan differences and work with House Democrats to get our country working again.