Message From MSCI CEO Bob Weidner: Why U.S. House Shows Congress Needs To Hear From Us Now, More Than Ever

The following message is from MSCI President and CEO M. Robert Weidner: 

Last Thursday, just before the House Republican Conference was to vote for its choice for U.S. Speaker of the House, the favorite in the race, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, dropped out. While Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has said he will remain as Speaker until Republicans coalesce around a new candidate, the GOP Conference today remains fractured and in disarray. I understand last week’s events feed into American voters’ frustration and the perception that Washington just isn’t working. Watching the chaos, I’ll admit it crossed my mind too: “Why do we even bother?” 

Then I realized – our representatives in Washington need to hear from us now more than ever. We need to send a clear message to individual lawmakers that Congress needs to get back to the people’s business. Members of Congress need to hear from the American small business owners who are worried about the federal tax provisions that will expire on Dec. 31. They need to hear from the retirees in our industry who fear what will happen to the world markets – and their nest eggs – if Congress fails to increase the federal statutory debt limit and the United States defaults on its obligations. They need to hear from the employees in our industry who are disappointed – indeed, angered – that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the Obama administration finished negotiating last week, does not address currency manipulation by Asian nations. 

Our industry is directly or indirectly responsible for more than 2.5 million jobs in the United States. I urge you to call your member of Congress and remind them how many metals industry employees in their district are relying on Washington to do its job – relying on federal lawmakers to set sound economic policy, to finalize legislation to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and to reform our broken immigration system. Remind our leaders that we put them in Congress to act on our behalf: to set the policies that will make it easier for us to create jobs, provide solid benefits for our employees and contribute to our communities. 

You can find a breakdown of metals industry jobs in each state and congressional district here and you can find information for your representatives and senators here. Today, more than ever, our leaders in Washington need to hear from us that policy should not be put on hold while politics plays out.