Washington, D.C.– Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today wondered why, after 13 weeks of controlling the House of Representatives, Congressional Republicans still had not proposed a single job creation bill. “I keep expecting Speaker Boehner to pull back the curtain on a big surprise party for the American people and say it was all a joke,” Grijalva said.

After calling job creation a top priority in their pre-election Pledge to America, Republicans have yet to introduce a single bill that would add jobs to the American economy. Their proposed fiscal year 2011 budget resolution, H.R. 1, would cut at least 700,000 jobs, according to several leading economists – including Sen. John McCain’s 2008 campaign economic adviser.

Although Boehner and other Republican leaders have touted some bills as being good for the economy, no objective analysis from the Congressional Budget Office or elsewhere has shown how a net gain in jobs would result. Instead, the House majority has given its backing to bills such as H.R. 3, which would increase small business taxes on health insurance plans.

“The best way to reduce the deficit is to put Americans back to work,” Grijalva said. “I don’t know how many times Republicans need to hear that before it sinks in. The way this House is being managed, we may not see a job creation bill for the next two years, and that would be a disaster for the American people and the future of our economy.”

Grijalva said Congress should focus on “keeping manufacturing jobs here in America and starting new infrastructure projects that not only create jobs today but build a permanently stronger, more efficient economy. At the same time, we need a tax code that’s fair to people who work for a living, not more sweetheart deals for corporations and banks that crashed our economy. These are not complicated principles, but Republicans don’t seem interested. I guess the joke’s on us.”