“We head into President Trump’s second year with a much stronger economy than the day he took office. We have more Americans at work. We have businesses – and families – confident that the economy will be even better this year.”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor on how Americans are confident and optimistic about the future of our economy.
Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
“Later this week, we’ll reach one year since President Trump was sworn into office as President of the United States.
“From what I hear talking with people at home in Wyoming, this first year has been a huge success.
“People tell me that they think America is finally headed in the right direction again.
“People tell me that they feel optimistic because of the policies that Republicans have put in place over the past year.
“The polling company Gallup says that it’s not just happening in Wyoming, but all across the country.
“They had a report the other day that said that Americans’ confidence in our economy was positive in 2017.
“They said that this was the first positive annual average since they started tracking these numbers in 2008. The first time ever.
“As soon as Donald Trump was elected president, economic confidence soared.
“It has stayed positive every single month since Election Day of 2016.
“Gallup said that is the exact opposite of what they’d seen for the previous eight years.
“In another poll last week, Gallup said that people are also more optimistic about the job market.
“They found that Americans’ confidence about finding a quality job was the highest in the 17 years they’ve been asking that question as well.
“They said that there was a ‘sharp increase’ over the year before – in 2016 when President Obama was in charge.
“People are confident, and they’re much more optimistic about the future.
“You see signs of it everywhere.
“Stores had their biggest holiday sales since at least 2008.
“When people are feeling confident, they feel like they can go shopping for the kids at Christmas.
“They can relax a little.
“Why are people so optimistic now?
“It’s because they see that President Trump and Republicans in Congress are serious about improving America’s economy.
“They see that we’re serious about giving relief to Americans who have been getting buried under an avalanche of red tape.
“The president has cut through massive amounts of regulations.
“Congress rolled back 15 different major regulations from the Obama era.
“That’s going to save Americans as much as $36 billion over time.
“These were regulations that hammered Americans, and wiped out American jobs.
“Now those regulations are gone.
“When people see that Washington is finally taking the right approach to regulation, it gives them confidence. Makes them more optimistic about the future.
“A lot of the regulations that Democrats wrote had to do with their war on American energy.
“Democrats shut down a lot of energy exploration and energy development in America.
“They shut down attempts to export American energy.
“They even wrote rules to put the United States at a competitive disadvantage when we try to develop energy resources overseas.
“Republicans have stopped Washington’s war on American energy.
“We’re opening up more areas to responsible energy production off our coasts, and in part of Alaska.
“Our goal should be to make American energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, without raising costs on American families.
“Republicans have put policies in place to restore that balance to America’s energy policy.
“Now people are talking about not just energy security and independence, but about American energy dominance.
“When people see that Washington is finally taking the right approach to energy, it gives them confidence.
“People see that Republicans are delivering on other promises as well – like giving American families serious tax relief.
“This tax law that we passed at the end of last year is giving back more than a trillion dollars to Americans over time.
“It’s letting people keep more of their hard-earned money. It’s spurring economic growth.
“It’s going to make it simpler for a lot of families to fill out their taxes.
“When people see that Washington is finally taking the right approach to taxes, it gives them confidence, more optimism.
“They’re confident because they’re already seeing the direct result in their paychecks.
“At least 166 companies have said that they’re going to give raises, give out bonuses, and invest more in their workers because of the tax law.
“More than 2,200,000 workers are getting more money in their pockets as a result of these raises and bonuses.
“Some of the folks who are getting bonuses are people who work at Wal-Mart.
“That’s one of the biggest employers in my state of Wyoming.
“People who work there are getting bonuses, they’re getting higher wages, they’re getting expanded maternity-leave benefits.
“These workers are noticing that extra money – it’s going to make a difference for them.
“It’s not just a one-time bump for people.
“Economists say that that the tax relief legislation will boost the economy for years to come.
“There was a story on CNBC on Monday that quoted an official from one European bank.
“He said that President Trump has ‘changed the perception of what’s possible in Washington.’
“The American economy has roared back to life. We are finally having the economic recovery that we should have had eight years ago.
“That’s because we’ve finally got the policies that allow our economy to grow like it should.
“We had a big recession in this country. Democrats used that as an excuse to pile a bunch of regulations on the American people.
“That had a lot to do with keeping the economy from recovering at the pace it should have.
“During the Obama administration there was talk about the ‘new normal.’
“People said that maybe it was just the way things were going to be in America from now on.
“Slow growth; weak recovery; wages that didn’t grow; people out of work for years at a time.
“Well, now we know that it was never normal, it was never acceptable, and it was never the way things had to be.
“Republicans are showing that the economy can grow faster – once we’ve got the right policies in place.
“America can be a greater place for all of us.
“We head into President Trump’s second year with a much stronger economy than the day he took office.
“We have more Americans at work.
“We have businesses – and families – confident that the economy will be even better this year.
“I think that’s the kind of thing that people mean when they tell me that they feel confident and optimistic in the direction of our country again.
“We see the confidence in Wyoming, and on Wall Street, and across the United States.
“Democrats might miss the Obama economy of higher taxes and more regulation.
“Republicans are fighting to continue the policies that are giving Americans confidence, and optimism, and hope.
“Republicans know that this is just the beginning.”
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