Washington, D.C. – Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statement today after President Obama withdrew the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed ozone standards – a controversial proposal that the agency itself admitted would impose annual costs of up to $90 billion and the Manufacturers Alliance estimated would cost 7.3 million jobs by 2020.

“I applaud the President’s decision to abandon these damaging regulations which would have cost millions of jobs in an already struggling economy.  When I met with job creators in Eastern Washington during the August Work Period, their number one concern was the federal government’s mounting regulatory burden.  The cost of these regulations is stifling job creation and stopping business expansion.  The best way Congress and the White House can encourage economic growth is to reduce regulations, encourage innovation, and whenever possible, promote free-market solutions.”     

Earlier today, the Labor Department announced that the U.S. economy didn’t create a single net job last month.  The national unemployment rate has been above 8 percent for 30 straight months – the longest streak since the Great Depression.