During this past session of Congress, Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) has been focused on making sure that Northeast Ohio has a positive economic forecast for years to come.
“Encouraging economic growth in Northeast Ohio is my top priority, and one of the best ways to promote job creation is to rebuild our nation,” Joyce said.
Joyce worked with Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) to introduce the Partnership to Build America Act with the goal of establishing the American Infrastructure Fund, which would provide bond guarantees and loans for states, local governments and nonprofit infrastructure companies to invest in infrastructure projects.
“Every $1 billion spent on infrastructure creates or retains about 35,000 jobs that cannot be outsourced to India or China,” Joyce said. “Rebuilding our infrastructure also isn’t partisan – there are no Republican roads or Democrat bridges.”
Part of Joyce’s plan to help grow the economy is preserving and protecting the Great Lakes, which he calls “our greatest economic and environmental resource.” Not only do the Great Lakes contain 85 percent of North America’s surface freshwater and provide a home to more than 3,500 species of plants and wildlife, the Great Lakes Basin supports 1.5 million American jobs and $62 billion in wages.
“To ensure a healthy economy in Northeast Ohio, we must take care of the Great Lakes,” Joyce said. “I view the Great Lakes as a national treasure and a huge economic engine for our region.”
Since taking office in 2013, Joyce has led bipartisan efforts to protect the series of interconnected freshwater lakes. This has included introducing the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act (GLEEPA) as well as helping to secure $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative this year as a member of the House Appropriations Committee.
As a member of the committee, Joyce also was part of the effort in finally getting Washington to sit down and create a budget that reduced discretionary spending by $165 billion.
While he is proud to have been part of solution, Joyce said much more needs to be done.
“We must be laser-focused on trimming the budget to cut waste and get our spending in line,” Joyce said. “It’s time to put a stop to government inefficiency in order to restore the people’s trust and do what’s best for our nation.”