Biden Calls Jobs Numbers 'Disappointing,' But Says Economy's Still Making Progress - East Idaho News
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Biden Calls Jobs Numbers ‘Disappointing,’ But Says Economy’s Still Making Progress

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165698258?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1365209980804Win McNamee/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — In a speech at the Export-Import Bank’s annual conference Friday, Vice President Joe Biden said that though the jobs numbers released Friday were “disappointing,” at least some jobs were added in March.
 
“While this agenda is far from complete, we’ve made significant progress with all of your help. The economy has now added private sector jobs every month, disappointing this month, but they nonetheless added jobs,” Biden said Friday in Washington, D.C.

Biden told the group that American companies will thrive in the global marketplace because of the spirit of innovation promoted in the country.

“You can’t think different in a country where you can’t speak freely. You can’t think different in a country where you are not allowed to challenge the orthodoxy. You can’t think different in a country that limits what you can be engaged in,” he said.  “That’s why I am is so optimistic about our future because I believe, in the 21st century, the true wealth of a nation is found in the creative mind of its people to build and their ability to innovate, to develop technologies that not only … spawn new products but entire new industries. More than any other country, the United States of America is hard-wired for innovation. It has enabled generation after generation of Americans to give life to world-changing ideas, from the cotton gin to the airplane to the microchip to the Internet.”

The vice president argued that in order to keep talent and innovative workers in this country, the immigration system must be reformed.

“It makes no sense, in my humble opinion. Sending them back to their country denies them a visa even when they have a job waiting for them. Instead of sending them home, we should be stamping a green card with a diploma as they walk across the stage,” Biden said.

“Literally. I mean this literally. Not figuratively, literally. If they have a job here, they should be able to stay here. We should want them here,” he added.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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