John Kline

I will lay off the necessary number of employees to cover the extra costs.

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.

Philosophically I agree 100 percent with what you said.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

We must support these local efforts to create jobs, stay competitive, and act decisively nationally to build and maintain a highly skilled workforce.

Today, workers have a fairer minimum wage rate--a rate that was increased by Democrats after Republicans blocked an increase for a decade--shamefully allowing the value of the rate to drop to a 50 year low.

I appreciate the opportunity to testify before the Committee today to provide an overview of some of the many challenges currently facing manufacturers.

In Virginia we are working to keep taxes low, and regulation and litigation to a minimum in order to free our entrepreneurs and job creators to grow their businesses and create the private sector jobs our citizens need.

Just last week President Obama announced what he called 'A 21st Century regulatory system,' in which his Executive Branch agencies would seek 'affordable, less intrusive means to achieve the same ends-giving careful consideration to…

I am concerned--especially as the Governor of a Right to Work state--about the December announcement of the National Labor Relations Board announcing its intention to publish in the Federal Register a proposed rule requiring almost all…

I applaud that. I urge you to hold his feet to the fire and make sure you really do that to cut down on regulation.