President Barack Obama spoke Thursday to employees of the General Electric factory in Waukesha, Wis., and repeated the promise he made in his 2014 State of the Union address to begin a “year of action.”
The president reiterated his plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour and closed his remarks by signing an executive order requesting a comprehensive review of the country’s worker-training programs.
Obama used his visit to Wisconsin to outline four separate strategies in order to define and execute his “opportunity agenda” to ensure all Americans have the opportunity to be successful.
The president said creating jobs, training citizens, educating America’s children and raising wages were crucial to moving the country forward.
“What will drive me until I wave goodbye is making sure that we’re restoring opportunity to every single person in America,” Obama said.
State Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, said it is unfortunate Obama has to use executive orders to help the country. However, Larson said he agreed with the president’s strategy in order to answer the needs of the country.
The fulcrum of the president's new initiative will be an extensive “soup-to-nuts” review of the nation’s job-training programs authorized by the executive order Obama signed after the speech, and will be spearheaded by Vice President Joe Biden.
The vice president will facilitate discussion with elected officials and business and labor leaders to define and develop successful programs.
Jeffrey Stenzel, a machine fabricator at GE’s factory, said he was pleased with the president’s speech.
“It’s all the stuff we need to address to get the economy back in place,” Stenzel said.
Obama returned to his minimum wage promise, vowing to pay federally funded employees a fair wage. “As a chief executive, I’m going to lead by example … to restore opportunity for everybody who’s willing to work hard,” he said.
After the speech, State Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said the president “hit the right tone” discussing issues that fit in with Wisconsin’s political landscape. Barca voiced his support of Obama’s intention to use an executive order to raise the federal minimum wage on the basis that a higher wage could eliminate federal-benefits bills that taxpayers end up paying.
“As long as he is following within the constitutional parameters, I applaud him,” Barca said.
State Senator Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, released a statement saying she wasn't surprised the president chose to visit Southeastern Wisconsin.
“Thanks to reforms passed by Republicans and signed by Governor Walker, Wisconsin is booming in manufacturing,” Darling said in the statement.
