US Congressman José E. Serrano reacted to President Obama’s speech on jobs and the economy tonight saying “the renewed focus on jobs is long overdue.” Like much of the nation, Serrano’s district is suffering economically, and residents are in need of jobs.
“We listened all year to a debate on reducing the deficit while our economy stalled in job growth,” said Congressman Serrano. “Now we have turned the focus to where it should have been in the first place: creating jobs. The deficit debate was a side-show, manufactured by Republicans eager to shrink the size of social programs they oppose. They know as well as we do that the quickest way to shrink the deficit is to revive employment.
“Tonight, President Obama laid out a series of reasonable steps that will help increase employment. I hope the House Republicans will drop their ideological resistance and bring the jobs package to a quick vote. With so many Americans out of work, it is time to end the partisanship and rigid ideology.
“The employment situation in this nation is at a crisis point. We must act swiftly and without the usual posturing and put Americans back to work again. President Obama did the right thing tonight by proposing solutions. I urge Republicans to get behind our President in this time of economic crisis and move our nation forward again.”