House Dems’ Senate Colleagues Vacation Instead of Vote, at the Cost of Thousands of American Jobs
FYI, a similar version of this release below went out to the following districts: Jason Altmire (PA-04), Tim Bishop (NY-01), Leonard Boswell (IA-03), Bruce Braley (IA-01), Lois Capps (CA-23), Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), Russ Carnahan (MO-03), Kathy Castor (FL-11), David Cicilline (RI-01), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Jim Costa (CA-20), Jerry Costello (IL-12), Mark Critz (PA-12), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Brian Higgins (NY-27), Jim Himes (CT-04), Kathy Hochul (NY-26), Tim Holden (PA-17), Rush Holt (NJ-12), Steve Israel (NY-02), Bill Keating (MA-10), Ron Kind (WI-03), Larry Kissell (NC-08), Rick Larsen (WA-02), David Loebsack (IA-02), Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04), Mike McIntyre (NC-07), Jerry McNerney (CA-11), Brad Miller (NC-13), Bill Owens (NY-23), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), Gary Peters (MI-09), Collin Peterson (MN-07), David Price (NC-04), Nick Rahall (WV-03), Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), Heath Shuler (NC-11), Adam Smith (WA-09), Betty Sutton (OH-13), John Tierney (MA-06), Niki Tsongas (MA-05), Tim Walz (MN-01)
Oregon Democrat Should Tell His Senate Colleagues to Vote and Stop Blocking FAA Jobs
Washington — If Kurt Schrader wants to act on job creation, he should pressure his Senate Democrat colleagues who are neglecting their duty to pass a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plan, shutting down over 70,000 jobs because they want to throw a political tantrum and skip town. The Senate Democrats’ decision to skip town is leaving American workers high and dry when they can afford it least, which is why Schrader should pressure Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to do their job.
“Middle-class families in Oregon want substantive action on job creation and Kurt Schrader can start with the glaring example created by his Senate Democrat colleagues, who decided to skip town and leave thousands of jobs hanging in limbo,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “Schrader should make the obvious decision to unblock thousands of American jobs by telling Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to finish their work on the FAA bill instead of taking a vacation.”
Senate Democrats, who control the chamber, refused to vote on the completed House FAA bill, which meant that thousands were furloughed and tens of thousands of construction jobs were halted:
“FAA programs shut down July 23 when the old law expired, forcing the furlough of 4,000 agency employees in various states. In addition, tens of thousands of workers have been idled or are at risk of layoff because the FAA can’t fund construction projects. The federal government is also losing $200 million a week in airline ticket-tax revenue during the impasse.”
(Josh Mitchell, “Funding for FAA Up in Air as Senate Fails to Vote,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/3/11)“A partial shutdown of federal aviation programs has put roughly 70,000 workers in construction and related fields out of work, the Associated General Contractors of America said on Wednesday.” (Lisa Lambert, “US air program shutdown costs 70,000 jobs-contractors,” Reuters, 7/27/11)
Kurt Schrader already voted to oppose the completed House plan that his Senate Democrat colleagues refuse to even vote on. (H.R. 2553, Roll Call #611, Passed 243-177: R 230-6; D 13-171, 7/20/11)
Instead of using new talking points to talk about jobs, Kurt Schrader should take action. Since his Senate Democrat colleagues decided to throw a tantrum and skip town, leaving tens of thousands of American workers hanging in the balance, Schrader should call upon Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley to do their job.