Illinois GOP: Congress Is Doing Its Part To Combat Unemployment
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- With Congress's approval rating at an all-time low, some Americans are concerned there's a lot of heated rhetoric going back and forth in Washington, but it's not generating enough results.
Illinois lawmakers say that's not true – they're getting results.
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A seemingly common line of conversation over the past few months might have included something along the lines of, "we shouldn't be talking about this, we should be talking about creating jobs." Yet the unemployment rate remains relatively stagnant. U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) says the House of Representatives is doing its part.
"We've passed over 200 pieces of legislation dealing with job creation," Schock said. "Some of them are energy related, selling offshore leases, allowing for exploration of natural gas, allowing for streamlining of nuclear power facilities and the like. All those bills are sitting over in the Senate waiting for action."
Schock called on the Senate to send some of the House's legislation back for negotiation, or draft some of its own. He scoffed at the notion of heading back to Washington early, which is something some in the Senate have suggested.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) says lawmakers must do what they can to stimulate the business climate, which he says is awful as it stands now. He says adopting a strict "hands-off" approach will make things better for business owners.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Alex Degman reports
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"Don't pass any new regulations," he said. "They don't know what their future energy costs will be; they don't know their future health care costs will be. So when there is this much uncertainty in the future, capital, which is investment dollars, sits on the sidelines."
Shimkus says it's not up to the government to create jobs itself, as it did with the president's stimulus programs. It can only create an environment suitable for job growth.
