Jim Hagedorn: “I thank my colleague for holding this Special Order. It is really a very important issue all across the country. And it…”

“I thank my colleague for holding this Special Order. It is really a very important issue all across the country. And it really doesn't matter which district a Member of Congress represents; you are going to have these same problems. Mr. Speaker, I spent the better part of last 2 weeks, during our district work period, traveling southern Minnesota, meeting with all sorts of businesses, meeting with labor, talking to the chambers of commerce. I can tell you that, under normal circumstances, it is tough enough to run a business and it is tough enough to be productive and successful in small business. But when you have bad government policies--and that is what we have here--it makes it extra tough. In many cases it is limiting production. We are seeing companies, like United Commercial Upholstery in New Ulm, having to turn away work. They actually could do three times more work right now if they could find another 50 employees. But it is impossible. It really doesn't matter if it is skilled work or unskilled work; it is just across the board. I was up in Lonsdale, Minnesota, in Rice County, and talked to their chamber of commerce, talked to the packaging company, which is the biggest employer in town. They have production disruptions across the board. They just can't find the employees. Recently, in Rochester, I was at Crenlo Industries, where they make these high-end cabs for heavy production equipment--Caterpillar, John Deere, those types of things.…”