Van Hollen Statement on the May Jobs Report

Statement

Today Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) issued the following statement on the May jobs report from the Department of Labor, which showed that 431,000 jobs were added in May:

"Today's jobs report is another positive sign that the economy is moving in the right direction. When President Bush left office we were losing over 750,000 jobs a month. President Obama and Congressional Democrats promised the American people that jobs would be our top priority, and we have worked day and night to keep that promise and put Americans back to work.

"We have now had five consecutive months of job growth, thanks to small businesses that have worked tirelessly to create jobs and help our nation succeed. Americans also continue to pay fewer taxes than they did under the previous Administration. But more work needs to be done to make up for the 8 million jobs lost. We inherited an economic mess due to years of reckless policies that favored corporate special interests at the expense of middle class families, and we are still cleaning it up. Part of that effort is the recently passed American Jobs and Close Tax Loopholes Act, which provides incentives to invest in small businesses in America by eliminating tax incentives to ship jobs overseas.

"House Republicans voted against the bill, continuing an unfortunate trend of voting against almost every single jobs and tax relief measure this Congress. It is too bad that Washington Republicans have decided to put the political needs of their party and special interests first. As disappointing as that is, it will not deter us from keeping our focus on the middle class, small businesses, and strengthening the economy."

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