WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate about the economy. He specifically expressed his concerns about the President’s decision to nominate John Bryson as Secretary of the United States Commerce Department.
Excerpts of his remarks are below:
“Since last November, the President has been trying to convince the American people that he has a plan to restart our economy. He was in North Carolina yesterday with his counsel to talk about issues. To me Mr. President, the President’s approach has left a lot to be desired. If the White House created as many jobs as it creates speeches, things would be a lot better. I will tell you the President’s empty words are not filling the pockets of American citizens.
“Now the President has been given a new chance. A new chance to show his commitment to economic growth and that is the chance he has recently had the chance to nominate a Secretary of Commerce for the United States. When I think about the Commerce Department it’s a department that job is, in terms of American businesses, to make those business more innovative at home and more competitive overseas. Well the mission, the mission of the Commerce Department states that it ‘promotes job creation, economic growth, sustainable development and improved standards of living for all Americans.’
“So at a time of economic crisis like the one we have now, a nominee who can fulfill that mission, that very mission of promoting job creation, economic growth, sustainable development and improved standards of living for all Americans, that very mission is needed more than ever. So despite the Administration’s promise that their so-called stimulus bill would keep unemployment rates below 8 percent, we know unemployment went to 10 percent and it is still over 9 percent.
“Our job growth last month was the slowest that it has been in almost a year. Over 13 million people are still out of work and nearly half of them have been unemployed for six months or more. This is the highest rate of chronic unemployment that we have had since the Great Depression.
“Gas prices are very high, I hear it every weekend at home in Wyoming and families are spending $800 on average more on gasoline this year than they did last year. We spend $48 billion more on goods from other countries than we do on our goods.
“The facts are clear. Americans deserve the best leadership in the Commerce Department – the Department that is responsible for trade, job creation and economic growth.
“Many may ask who is this man? Is he a job promoter, someone who can bring economic growth and improve the standard of living for all Americans? Well, John Bryson’s record clearly shows that he is not such a nominee.
“In fact, his resume is exhibit #1 in proving that this Administration is not serious about job growth. At best, it is unclear why John Bryson is the President’s nominee for this position. At worst, his nomination is proof that the President wants environmental activists running our economic development strategy.
“Mr. Bryson does have a background in the private sector. The problem is that his private sector success has more to do with government help than with his own ability to create jobs or grow the economy.
“We need a Commerce Secretary who knows how businesses turn a profit, and how to create private sector jobs. We need a Commerce Secretary who will make it easier and cheaper for the private sector to create jobs, not someone who will make it harder and more expensive for the private sector to create jobs. We need a Commerce Secretary who can understand all sectors of the economy, rather than someone who picks winners and losers. Now already to me, Mr. Bryson fails the test.
“Along with his private sector experience, he is also the founder of a group called the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC. This organization is so radically anti-business that even Massachusetts Democratic Congressmen Barney Frank and John Tierney think it is ‘troubling’ that Mr. Bryson is associated with it.
“These members of Congress have described NRDC as ‘one of those environmental organizations that has reflexively attacked the fishing industry inaccurately and without any real environmental basis.’
“And it’s not just the fishing industry that the NRDC reflexively attacks. Members of NRDC’s staff are on record saying ‘there is no such thing as clean coal.’ While gas prices soar and energy jobs are needed, a spokesman for NRDC has said, ‘the NRDC has been very active and proud to be active in fighting new coal plant proposals in the United States.’
“This anti-energy agenda is so reflexive that NRDC has even filed lawsuits to further delay future energy exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Well the delay has already stretched on so long that even former President Bill Clinton has called it ‘ridiculous.’
“When it comes to anti-business, unpopular policies like Cap and Trade, is one area where he has focused. He is one of its most aggressive supporters and the record shows it. More importantly, his own words show it.
“Most Americans recognize Cap and Trade as a job-killing energy tax. That’s why the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade bill couldn’t pass the Senate. However, when referring to that very bill, John Bryson called it a ‘moderate but acceptable’ a ‘moderate but acceptable’ he said piece of legislation. He even said the legislation was good precisely because it was a good way to hide a carbon tax. To hide a tax.
“Mr. Bryson has repeatedly called for a national Cap and Trade system and he has even put his money where his mouth is. But when you say a good way to hide a tax, is that what the role of the Secretary of Commerce is? To hide taxes on American businesses? To make them less competitive? To make it more expensive to do business? I think not, Mr. President. Well according to the Daily Caller, Mr. Bryson’s own company spent over a million dollars lobbying for Cap and Trade.
“So John Bryson believes in politicizing American investment. He has founded a radical environmental organization and has spent significant amounts of money lobbying for a policy that he openly acknowledges is cover for a job killing energy tax.
“We do not need a Commerce Secretary who is more interested in taking our hard-earned dollars than in creating jobs at home. The American people deserve a Commerce Secretary who is more interested in free trade than in Cap and Trade.
“The President may believe that John Bryson is the right man at the right time. I believe that John Bryson is the wrong man at the worst possible time.”
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