GOP Makes Unified Push In Search Of Senate Action On Jobs Bills

By Andrea Salazar and Janie Amaya

House Republican Leaders Friday argued that their “Forgotten 15” jobs bills are piling up in the Senate as unemployment remains high.

“There is no reason for Senate Democrats to delay action on the bills any longer,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said at a news conference with fellow Republican leaders. “The House has been working all year on our plan for Americans job creators. It’s time for the Senate to do their work.”

The “Forgotten 15” are Republican-sponsored jobs bills that have already passed through the lower chamber. They include bills that prohibit regulation of the Internet and green house gas emissions to reduce costs to businesses.

Supercommittee member Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) argued that the bills prohibiting additional regulation is urgent, claiming that “the federal government is regulating small business out of business.”

Earlier this week the House passed four bills allowing access to financing for small businesses, something House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said is an important step in showing Americans that Washington is working for their interest.

“What small businesses want in this is less red tape in Washington so they can go about continuing to invest and create jobs,” Cantor said.

The movement pushing for action in the upper chamber continued on Capitol Hill with Republican Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) and a handful of Republican freshmen.

“We are distressed with what we see coming out of the White House and out of the Senate,” Price told reporters. 

The group criticized the Democratic-controlled Senate for holding up a number of bills they believe will combat the nation’s jobless rate. 

The newest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the unemployment rate fell to an even 9 percent, a slim improvement from the 9.1 percent recorded for September. The small group of House Republicans were harmonious in their message to President Obama, “We can’t wait either.”

“We can’t wait for you to get back to town to work with us and call on Harry Reid to pass the job creation bills already passed through House,” Price said. “The American people are sick and tired of this kind of craziness that doesn’t allow for the process to work.”

Benny Martinez contributed to this story…