WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., spoke on the Senate floor yesterday about his priorities and committee work for the 114th Congress. Wicker called for pro-growth legislation and a return to regular order as beneficial to addressing the pressing needs of the country.

Excerpts of Wicker’s speech to the Senate:

“It’s time for us to get to work. We begin this Congress with a number of urgent priorities, not the least of which is job creation. More than 9 million Americans are still unemployed and more significantly, perhaps, millions more have given up looking for work. … I am not at all satisfied with these employment numbers and particularly with the fact that only 62 percent of eligible members of the labor force actually are choosing to participate. To me, a shrinking work force points to a weak economy. Boosting the job market is important to boosting future economic growth. I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance job-creating legislation that has a positive impact on Americans’ daily lives.”

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“I look forward during the 114th Congress to serving as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower. Our subcommittee has a wide range of oversight responsibilities, including the procurement, sustainment, and research and development needs of the Navy and Marine Corps. … I’m well aware of the imminent and emerging threats facing our sea services. America should maintain its ability to project power around the world while upholding our obligations to our friends and allies.”

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“I also look forward to assuming the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet. My chief focus will continue to be the deployment and adoption of broadband in rural America, something I’m interested in as a senator from Mississippi, something that the distinguished president pro tem is interested in as a senator from Louisiana. Broadband has become a vital economic engine in this country and around the world. …We also need to find ways to make more spectrum available for wireless, which can help spur innovation and economic growth in the mobile broadband space.”

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“I also expect the Senate this year, Mr. President, to deal with legislation regarding the Environmental Protection Agency and the Obama Administration’s environmental executive overreach. … By EPA’s own estimates, its recently proposed ground-level ozone rule could cost taxpayers as much as $44 billion per year, making it the most expensive rulemaking to date. Meanwhile, EPA’s clean power plant rule could lead to a loss of 224,000 jobs each year. These costs are staggering.”

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“I think both sides recognize that the Affordable Care Act is not affordable and, as a matter of fact, is causing great hardship and pain to the majority of American people. And so I’m glad to hear members on the other side of the aisle at least acknowledge that major, significant changes need to be made in Obamacare. Overall disapproval of the President’s health care law is at an all-time high of 56 percent. Americans are suffering under the law’s mandates and taxes. Many are faced with a financial burden of higher copays and higher deductibles. This is a reality. … I would like to repeal the entire Act and start over with some good aspects that we could incorporate into a better bill but also to start off with a better way to providing health care for Americans and providing those who were uninsured with the opportunity to get insurance.”

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“The national debt now exceeds $18 trillion. During the next 10 years, interest payments on the debt will be the fastest-growing budget expenditure. Interest on the debt will be the fastest-growing expenditure, more than tripling to $800 billion. Put in perspective, one out of every seven tax dollars taken in by the government will be used to service the federal debt.”

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“We have plenty of work to do. People in my state of Mississippi, like most Americans, expect results from this Congress. The challenges of our economy, the importance of our national defense, and the negative impact of intrusive executive overreach are too great not to address. We need to meet the expectations of the American people in this regard. … It’s time to put the priorities of the American people first."

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