John Hoeven Weekly Republican Address TEXT VIDEO 06/18/11

John Hoeven Weekly Republican Address TEXT VIDEO 06/18/11

U.S. Senator John Hoeven Delivers Weekly Republican Address
‘Free and fair trade agreements can help us create the kind of pro-jobs, pro-growth economy that will lift our nation up… Robust international trade can help us do it, and we can start by ratifying long-pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.’

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator John Hoeven (R-North Dakota) released the following weekly Republican address.

Full text transcript of Senator Hoeven’s Address:

“Hi, I’m Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota, and I’d like to talk to you today about our nation’s fiscal challenges – in particular, about the vital role that international trade can play to help us create jobs and reduce our deficit.

“Almost exactly one hundred years ago, at the start of another century, President Theodore Roosevelt launched a U.S. Navy mission known as the Great White Fleet on a voyage around the world.

“It was a show of American strength, but it was also a show of American goodwill and prosperity. That voyage would open the doors of trade with the vast, untapped markets of Asia, and help usher in what became known as the ‘American Century’.

“President Roosevelt’s leadership put the world on notice that the United States of America – with the freest, most dynamic economy the world had ever seen – was open for business.

“It’s a legacy felt to this day - but a legacy now in jeopardy.

“We’re all keenly aware of just how serious our nation’s current fiscal situation is. No American family could spend 60 percent more than it’s taking in and survive – no less prosper – but that’s exactly what our country is doing.

“The result is a $1.5 trillion deficit, and a $14 trillion debt that is dragging down our economy and burdening us and our children.

“To put all that in human terms, nearly 14 million of our fellow Americans are without a paycheck, and they have been for some time.

“To turn that around, our country needs the kind of pro-jobs, pro-growth policies that will help us live up to our vision of a strong, peaceful, prosperous America.

“We have an opportunity right now to advance that vision and jumpstart the nation’s economy. Robust international trade can help us do it, and we can start by ratifying long-pending free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama.

“All of these agreements have been languishing for years, but with a 9.1 percent unemployment rate, and a spiraling deficit, the President can no longer hold these agreements back. Currently, he is holding them up in order to negotiate the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. TAA can be addressed separately in the context of Trade Promotion Authority, as it generally has been in the past since 1974.

“For the good of our economy – and our country – he needs to send these free agreements to the U.S. Senate for approval now, so that U.S. workers and businesses can begin to realize their benefits.

“You know, I recently had an opportunity to travel to South Korea with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and a group of senators to meet with President Lee Myung-bak and prominent Korean business leaders about the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.

“President Lee said he believes Korean lawmakers will approve the free trade agreement, but they’re waiting for America to lead the way.

“They want and expect us to lead the way because – to South Korea and nations around the world – America has always been a beacon of liberty and opportunity.

“Nearly everyone we spoke with in Korea – on the street or the meeting room – expressed their deep appreciation to the United States, and especially to our military and our veterans.

“They’re keenly aware that U.S. service members sacrificed so much to give them a free society and a free-market economy where they could pursue their dreams.

“South Korea is now a prosperous, modern nation, with a $1 trillion economy, and 49 million consumers, in large part because American service members won and now help preserve the peace. Korea is the 15th largest economy in the world, and our country’s 7th largest trading partner.

“Per capita income in South Korea today is more than $20,000 annually. In communist North Korea? Just over $1,000 annually. A free and open economy made the difference.

“Today, again, America needs to lead the way, starting with the President.

“The U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement will eliminate or reduce more than 85 percent of the tariffs between the United States and Korea, including the eventual elimination of a 40 percent Korean tariff on American beef.

“Just one project we’ve been working on in my home state, a new beef processing facility, could mean a $100 million investment in our economy and 500 new jobs. In North Dakota that’s a big deal.

“But these free trade agreements are an even bigger deal for America. The South Korean Free Trade Agreement alone will increase our nation’s exports to that country by more than $10 billion and create 280,000 American jobs. In fact, for every 4 percent increase in American exports, we can create one million new American jobs.

“The reality is that nearly 80 percent of the world’s purchasing power lies outside the United States, and if we don’t tap those markets, others will.

“Free and fair trade agreements can help us create the kind of pro-jobs, pro-growth economy that will lift our nation up. Good fiscal control and a legal tax, and regulatory environment that promotes private investment and business innovation, can help us to create jobs, grow our economy, and reduce our deficit.

“We need to build on the legacy of President Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet by ratifying these free trade agreements, so that instead of a debt, we can leave our children a bright, dynamic future.

“Thank you, and God bless.

TEXT CREDIT: United States Senator John Hoeven Washington, DC 120 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington DC, 20510 Phone: 202-224-2551 Fax: 202-224-7999

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: gopweeklyaddress

Jim DeMint Unionization Through Regulation: The NLRB’s Holding Pattern on Free Enterprise” VIDEO

DeMint Submits Statement for NLRB Hearing in South Carolina

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) submitted the following statement for the record for a hearing about the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Charleston, S.C. held by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Statement for the Record

Hearing on “Unionization Through Regulation: The NLRB’s Holding Pattern on Free Enterprise”
June 17, 2011

Thank you Mr. Chairman for holding this hearing today in Charleston. The NLRB’s unprecedented action against The Boeing Company is not only vitally important to South Carolina, but to businesses and workers in every state across America.

As an arm of the federal government, the NLRB has an obligation to not only protect union workers, but non-union workers as well. Americans must have the ability to choose whether to join a union or not join a union as a condition of employment. 22 states given employees that choice and the federal government must respect that. Companies also deserve the right to build and expand their businesses where they will have the best chance of economic success. Otherwise, there can be no such thing as free enterprise in this country.

This is why it is so shocking that the NLRB is pursuing a complaint against The Boeing Company for its decision to expand to South Carolina to build Dreamliner airplanes, a move that could create up to 3,800 new jobs in Charleston and allow them to export more of their high-quality American product.

Boeing is an American company creating American jobs. The government has no business dictating where it can build, or who it should employ. If the NLRB continues down this course, thriving American companies will have no choice but to go overseas, depriving Americans of future job opportunities. The government cannot be for jobs if it is actively working against job creators.

Boeing’s expansion should be celebrated, not the subject of a federal complaint. These new jobs in Charleston do not come at the expense of those at the first Dreamliner plant in Everett, Washington. In fact, the Everett factory has added more than 2,000 jobs since Boeing announced it would build the Charleston plant. But, because South Carolina is a right to work state, which does not force employees to join a union as a condition of employment, and Washington is a forced unionism state, which does, the NLRB is turning a commonsense business decision into a federal matter.

Acting on behalf of the International Machinists Union and Aerospace Workers, the NLRB’s General Counsel has made the baffling determination that what Boeing did is “illegal.” In reaching this conclusion, the taxpayer-funded NLRB spent a significant amount of time listening to the complaints of union members who have not lost their jobs and are not at risk of losing their jobs. The NLRB has not given that same consideration to non-union workers in Charleston, who will lose their jobs if the NLRB is successful.

Three of Charleston’s Boeing workers filed a request to participate in the lawsuit to make their concerns about job security heard. The NLRB lawyers denied their request, saying “their unnecessary participation…would merely delay and complicate these already complex proceedings.”

This denial stands in clear contrast of the NLRB’s mission to protect employees’ rights to act together, with or without a union, to improve working terms and conditions.

The federal government cannot treat non-union jobs as if they are less important than union jobs. All employees must have equal rights under the law and afforded the same protections by their government. The NLRB is not maintaining that balance.

I thank the U.S. House for taking its oversight duties seriously by holding this hearing to discuss the NLRB’s case against Boeing. Congress must have a role in making sure the NLRB is staying true to its mission.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Senate has not been given the opportunity to exercise its constitutional duty of “advice and consent” when it comes to political appointments made to the NLRB.

The NLRB’s Acting General Counsel, Lafe Solomon, was appointed to serve a full four-year term on January 2011. The Senate still has not been able to vet him. Mr. Solomon has not appeared for a Senate confirmation hearing, nor has he been subjected to a full Senate confirmation vote.

Craig Becker, a former lawyer for the Service Employees International Union and AFL-CIO, was given a recess appointment to become one of the five members of the NLRB’s powerful board over widespread, bipartisan objections in the Senate to his nomination. In fact, the Senate rejected his nomination in February 2010. Yet, a month later, he was recess appointed by the President.

Today’s hearing is necessary. I thank the Chairman again for his diligence and attention to this matter and hope the witnesses provide the public with more clarity about where the NLRB’s priorities lie and whether that is in the best interest of America’s workforce, union and non-union alike.

VIDEO and IMAGE CREDIT: SenJimDeMint

TEXT CREDIT: United States Senator Jim DeMint 167 Russell United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-6121 Fax: 202-228-5143 Office Hours: 9am - 6pm (M-F)