Lawmakers on Capitol Hill would be more satisfied with their jobs if they worked together more often, President Obama told members of Congress assembled at the White House Tuesday.
“I want to thank all the Democrats and Republicans here today for getting this bill done. This is a big piece of work,” Obama said at the signing ceremony for a bipartisan jobs bill. “But I’m also inviting you back. Let’s do this more often. It’s so much fun.”
The president noted, “everybody’s smiling; everybody feels good.”
“We could be doing this all the time,” he continued. “Our work can make a real difference in the lives of real Americans. That’s why we’re here. We’ll have more job satisfaction. The American people, our customers, they’ll feel better about the product we produce.”
The president said lawmakers could also come together on infrastructure and immigration bills.
“Let’s see if we can come together, and while we’re at it, let’s fix an immigration system that is currently broken in a way that strengthens our borders and that we know will be good for business,” he said. “We know we’ll increase our GDP. We know we’ll drive down our deficit.”
The comments came as the president signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which is designed to streamline the federal workforce training system.
“It will help us bring those programs into the 21st century by building on what we know works, based on evidence, based on tracking, what actually delivers on behalf of folks who enroll in these programs,” Obama said. “More partnerships with employers, more tools to measure performance, more flexibilities for states and cities to innovate and to run their workforce programs in ways that are best suited for their particular demographic and their particular industries.”
The president said he was also ordering his Cabinet to implement changes, including reforming the way job training grants are awarded to make them better align with industries that are hiring. Federal training programs will also have to disclose graduates’ employment and average salaries.