Despite some unprecedented attempts, perhaps best reflected in a failed $814 billion stimulus bill passed in the early hours of the last Congress, the federal government cannot legislate or regulate its way to job creation in our country.

Thank you very much to our witnesses--what a terrific panel--for enduring the weather and the voting and all of those things.

What we do need to do is make sure that we are governing ourselves accordingly in the States.

The last thing that this Federal Government needs... is more latitude to control, run, and otherwise dictate the lives of the people.

Philosophically I agree 100 percent with what you said.

It is for the States and the people to decide under the enumeration clause what latitude to give us.

It also sends the signal to our international competitors that we will not be at the table and we are not an important country to negotiate with.

The only thing that signing that agreement would do would be to allow U.S. workers through American companies to have the same access to Colombian markets.

our workforce will be best served by being better skilled, more flexible and better able to compete internationally.

the most imperative thing at the moment is to concentrate on pro-growth policies and at every juncture, when faced with a policy decision, ask will this or will this not make it easier for an employer to put one more person on the payroll.

If you look at the Colombia free trade agreement, for example, it is already the case that Colombian companies have free access to American markets.

many of the policies in which we are currently engaged are at odds with that requirement for pro-growth imperatives.

We need jobs now and we need the kind of investments that will transform our economy and renew long-run prosperity.

I believe those industries can coexist very well with offshore energy exploration.

The agencies that oversee the financial markets must be fully staffed and allowed to do their job.

This Committee must move forward in legislation that will take away the obstacles to growth for small businesses to help turn around this recession.

I specifically hear about the opposition to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law last year.

The Administration administered an $814 billion 'stimulus' package in 2009 that has done nothing to stimulate the economy--instead--resulting in a loss of 2.1 million jobs.