Last week I had the opportunity to go around the 3^rd Congressional District and talk to many of you about what’s on your mind and the number one question I’ve been getting from folks is “Where are the jobs?” And the response I have is quite simple: House Republicans have passed over 40 different bills that seek to get government out of the way of the free market and create conditions for economic growth and job creation. All that we need now is for the Senate and president to join us.

Instead of joining us, however, the administration and its allies have been crowing about a lower unemployment rate. But there is more to it than that. Under this administration, the economy shrank by 2.9 percent and there are, in fact, more than 5 million Americans who have given up looking for a job because of lack of opportunities. If the labor force was back to pre-recession levels, including the workers that have stopped looking, the unemployment rate would actually be 11.1 percent, not 6.2 percent.

Looking back on the president’s State of the Union address at the beginning of the year where he heavily focused on creating jobs for Americans – it seems that he hasn’t listened to his own words nor kept any of his promises. June marked the 49^th time in the last 50 months more people gave up looking for work than found jobs while 30 percent of job seekers had to settle for part-time work. Even more disturbing is that 40 percent of our unemployed are millennials which means there are 4.6 million folks age 18 to 29 out of work.

With that said, there was a bright spot last week when the House and Senate came to an agreement on the bipartisan, bicameral Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. This bill will help develop a workforce system that is focused on getting folks the skills necessary for the jobs that are available right now. Americans need an updated and streamlined system to take advantage of the resources that are available and to ensure the workers are skilled for 21^st century jobs. A recent survey of businesses indicated that 33 percent of them couldn’t find enough workers with the skills needed for the jobs available.

This incredibly important legislation is headed to the president’s desk where it is my hope he will immediately sign this into law so we can start to make serious headway into the nation’s unemployment numbers. It’s long past time to get this broken record of no growth and fewer jobs repaired. House Republicans have been on the forefront of passing dozens of pieces of legislation that have long been ignored by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama.

The bottom line is that too many Americans are not seeing change or hope under President Obama’s economy. Too many are still struggling and too many are giving up. There are a lot of numbers that need fixing and Americans won’t be distracted by the pretty picture trying to be painted by this administration. It’s time to act and I will continue to do just that.

CONTACT US: As always, for those of you with Internet access, I encourage you to visit my official website. For those without access to the Internet, I encourage you to call my offices in Jefferson City (573-635-7232) Washington, Mo. (636-239-2276), or Wentzville (636-327-7055) with your questions and concerns. If you want even greater access to what I am working on, please visit my YouTube site, Facebook page, and keep up-to-date with Twitter.