Jobs News

Weekly Address: Passing the American Jobs Act

President Obama discusses the need for Congress to pass the American Jobs Act to put more people back to work, and more money back in the pockets of people who are working. Read the jobs bill.

Transcript | Download mp4 | Download mp3

The American Jobs Act and Nonprofits

During these tough economic times, nonprofit organizations, both faith-based and secular, are the front-line responders to communities in need.  From convening support groups and prayer services to providing child care, teaching job skills, and putting Americans back to work, these nonprofit and faith-based groups are supporting working families and individuals across the country.  

President Obama recently announced a major new proposal called the American Jobs Act and sent legislation to Congress for action.  The American Jobs Act is all about getting Americans working and putting money back in the pockets of the American people, and nonprofit organizations are a key part of this bill. 

The President recognizes that roughly one in twelve workers in the United States are employed in the nonprofit sector, which is why he made nonprofits – both faith-based and secular – a key part of this bill.  The Act will help all Americans by creating jobs now, sparking economic growth, and providing relief to millions of families.  Under the Act, all business and organizations – including nonprofits – can receive a tax credit through partnering with state entities when they hire long-term unemployed individuals or veterans.  The Act also includes an innovative entrepreneurship and wage protection program that will allow unemployed workers to receive unemployment insurance while they start new businesses – including nonprofit enterprises.  And employers won’t have to be as hesitant to hire new employees, because the American Jobs Act would cut the payroll tax in half for the first $5 million in wages, and temporarily eliminate employer payroll taxes on wages for new workers or raises for existing workers.  This is great news for many small business and nonprofit organizations.

The America Invents Act: Turning Ideas into Jobs

Watch President Obama sign the America Invents Act here.

This morning, I had the great honor of watching President Obama sign the America Invents Act at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Alexandria, Virginia—a school named for the first official to issue U.S. patents.  This historic legislation will help American entrepreneurs and businesses get their inventions to the marketplace sooner so they can turn their ideas into new products and new jobs.  

The America Invents Act was passed with President Obama’s strong leadership after nearly a decade of effort to reform the Nation’s outdated patent laws.  It will help companies and inventors avoid costly delays and unnecessary litigation, and let them focus instead on innovation and job creation.  Many key industries in which the United States leads, such as biotechnology, medical devices, telecommunications, the Internet, and advanced manufacturing, depend on a strong and healthy intellectual property system.  

As President Obama explained in his 2011 State of the Union address:  “We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time.  We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.”  

On stage with President Obama was a bipartisan group of legislators who came together to pass the most significant reform of the Patent Act since 1836:  Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT); Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX); Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA); Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA); and Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC). Today’s bill signing shows that strong bipartisan cooperation is possible. Congress can come together on behalf of the American economy and American innovation.  

The newly-signed law has a number of important transformations that will build on reforms already underway under the leadership of the US Patent and Trademark Office's dynamic Director David Kappos. The law will give the USPTO the resources to significantly reduce patent application waiting times, building on the great strides the patent office has already made, including reducing its backlog by 75,000 during this Administration even as the number of filings per year has increased.  

A few months ago, Austan Goolsbee (then Chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers) created a video explaining why reducing the backlog will help get more ideas turned into companies and jobs. The USPTO will now be in a position to implement an innovative program to speed up the processing of the patents that are likely to create good jobs right away. Under the prioritized examination process, the USPTO will offer start-ups and growing companies an opportunity to have important patents reviewed in one-third the time with a new fast-track option that has a guaranteed 12-month turnaround.  

The program builds on the Green Technology Pilot program that accelerates patent applications involving reduced greenhouse gas emissions and energy conservation — at no cost to the inventor. More than 2,407 petitions have been granted to green technology patent applicants since the pilot began in December 2009, and USPTO has issued a total of 470 patents under the program.  

Excessive litigation has long plagued the patent system.  The America Invents Act will offer entrepreneurs new ways to avoid litigation regarding patent validity, without the expense of  going to court, and will also give the USPTO new tools and resources to improve patent quality. The new law also will harmonize the American patent process with the rest of the world to make it more efficient and predictable, and make it easier for entrepreneurs to simultaneously market products in the United States and for exporting abroad.  

President Barack Obama examines a robot created in the school’s prototyping and robotics senior research labs at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., Sept. 16, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

At Thomas Jefferson High School, President Obama also announced some of the additional steps we’re taking to unleash the ingenuity of America’s entrepreneurs.  The National Institutes of Health will launch a new center that will help companies reduce the time and cost required to develop life-saving drugs, and is making it easier for startups to commercialize the biomedical inventions made by NIH and FDA researchers.  In addition, the Administration will develop a “bioeconomy blueprint” to create jobs and address key national challenges in health, energy, and agriculture.

We also know that government cannot do this alone. That’s why 140 university presidents have answered the Administration’s call to action to move research breakthroughs from the lab to the marketplace.  We’re also announcing a new prize supported by the National Science Foundation and the Coulter Foundation to reward those universities that make the most progress on accelerating economic growth and job creation. 

Now more than ever, the jobs of the future will spring from the inventions of today, which will be built on the foundation of a strong and balanced intellectual property system. As President Obama explained today, “We should be encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit wherever we find it.  We should be helping American companies compete and sell their products all over the world.  We should be making it easier and faster to turn new ideas into new businesses and new jobs.  And we should knock down any barriers that stand in the way.”  

Have questions on the America Invents Act? Today, US Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra will be answering your questions with USPTO Director David Kappos during an Open for Questions event on WhiteHouse.gov. Join us live at 5:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, September 16th. Here's how it works and how you can participate:

• Use the hashtag #WHChat on Twitter to ask your questions on the America Invents Act
• Watch and ask your questions through the White House Live Facebook App
• Tune in live on WhiteHouse.gov/live

Congress Moves Forward on FAA, Surface Transportation Extensions that Keep Jobs; Now Let's Talk about Creating Jobs

Ed note: The following is cross-posted from the Department of Transportation blog

Last night, the U.S. Senate followed the House and voted to extend authority for the Federal Aviation Administration and our nation's surface transportation programs to continue operating.  Passing this legislation keeps hundreds of thousands of men and women on the job.  For commuters, truck drivers, and air travelers, it will allow critical road, transit, and airport projects to move forward. 

Our surface transportation law provides money to the states for thousands of transportation projects currently under construction around the country.   The hundreds of thousands of workers on road and transit project job sites across America will all breathe a little easier this weekend without the threat of a shutdown looming over them. And our valuable professionals at the FAA will be able to go about their business of modernizing our airports and researching new and better ways to run the best aviation system in the world.

Office Hours 9/15/11 or "Carrier pigeon, have you considered it?": Jason Furman Answers Your Questions on Twitter

Continuing the White House "Office Hours" series, Jason Furman, Principal Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, answered your questions on the American Jobs Act on Twitter. You asked Jason about relief for 99ers, modernizing schools, paying for the Act, and much more. Check out the full Q&A below, or over on Storify.

Be sure to follow @WHLive and @WhiteHouse on Twitter for more chances to engage.

Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Director of the National Economic Council Jason Furman answers Twitter questions on the American Jobs Act during a session of White House Office Hours. September 15th, 2011.

Office Hours 9/14/11 or "Make Voices Heard": Stephanie Cutter Answers Your Questions on Twitter

Today, Stephanie Cutter, Assistant to the President and Deputy Senior Advisor, answered your questions on the American Jobs Act during a session of White House Office Hours. See a transcript of the question and answer below, or over on Storify.

If you didn't have a chance to join us live, there are more Office Hours focused on the American Jobs Act this week. Take a look at the schedule and be sure to follow @WHLive for more chances to engage.

Assistant to the President and Deputy Senior Advisor Stephanie Cutter answers Twitter questions on the American Jobs Act during a session of White House Office Hours. September 14th, 2011 (Photo by Mori Rothman)

Watch Live: President Obama on the American Jobs Act in North Carolina

Ed. Note: The event has now ended. Watch video and see photos from the event.

Today, President Obama will visit Raleigh, North Carolina to continue the conversation with Americans on why Congress needs to pass the American Jobs Act to put workers back to work. Watch the President live beginning at 12:55 p.m. EDT at WhiteHouse.gov/live.

In advance of the President’s visit, Governor Beverly Perdue and mayors across North Carolina explained the importance of passing the American Jobs Act. Governor Beverly Perdue said, "My top priority is creating jobs. I'm pleased that the President put forward the American Jobs Act. Congress should pass a plan quickly that encourages companies to hire, helps unemployed people get back to work, and puts more money in the pockets of working families."

President Obama: "Every Child Deserves a Great School"

President Barack Obama delivers remarks to students, faculty and staff at Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 13, 2011. The President highlights his American Jobs Act proposal to put workers back on the job by rebuilding and modernizing schools across the country. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

It was a hot afternoon in Columbus, Ohio today when President Obama spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of over 3,000 people at Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School. He laid out how the American Jobs Act will put teachers back in the classroom and get construction workers, carpenters and electricians back on the job modernizing America's schools.

Even though the September sun felt more like midsummer, students are back in school at Fort Hayes and on days like today they’re glad to have air-conditioning, one of many recent renovations to buildings on campus that were originally built during the Civil War. The American Jobs Act would make it possible to renovate at least 35,000 schools like Fort Hayes across the country. As the President said, putting construction workers back on the job rebuilding schools is just common sense for the economy and for the education of our kids:

When buildings are that old, they start falling apart.  They start leaking, and ceiling tiles start to cave in, and there’s no heat in the winter or air-conditioning in the summer.  Some of the schools the ventilation is so poor it can make students sick. 

How do we expect our kids to do their very best in a situation like that?  The answer is we can’t.  Every child deserves a great school, and we can give it to them, but we got to pass this bill. 

More Organizations and Businesses Respond to the American Jobs Act

Yesterday, President Obama sent The American Jobs Act to Congress and urged Congress to pass the bill right away to get the economy moving. Organizations and businesses continue to respond to the President’s call to put partisanship aside and do what is right for the American people. Here is what organizations around the country are saying about the American Jobs Act:

UNITE HERE, John W. Wilhelm, President

On behalf of UNITE HERE’s 250,000 members who work in the hotel, food service, gaming and manufacturing industries, I applaud the President’s vigorous and inspired push to put America back to work. We join him in calling for the Congress to act and to act now!

Public Transportation Association (APTA), William Millar, President

On behalf of the more than 1,500 members of the American Public Transportation Association I commend President Obama for his remarks last night that highlighted creating and supporting jobs through investing in transportation infrastructure. The $50 billion in direct funding proposed in the American Jobs Act will go a long way to jump start needed transportation investments.  Every $1 billion in public transportation investment supports or creates 36,000 jobs.  Also, for every $1 invested in public transportation, $4 is generated in economic returns.

International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFPTE), Gregory J. Junemann, President

The President’s plan is needed now, more than ever, and we encourage all Americans and every member of Congress to get on board in pushing this plan into law. President Obama made a great speech in outlining his plan for the restoration of the nation’s economy. And he called on all of us—each and every one of us—to support him. We must answer his call with meaningful action. Reach out to every member of Congress and demand the swift passage of the American Jobs Act.

Fraternal Order of Police, Chuck Caterbury, National President

President Obama has presented us with a sound, no nonsense, blueprint for getting Americans back to work and jumpstarting the economy. We support and applaud this effort and will work to ensure its passage by Congress.