Washington, DC - Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, issued a statement regarding today's cloture vote which ended further consideration of bipartisan legislation, S. 782 the Economic Development Revitalization Act of 2011. The bill would have provided investments in infrastructure and job creation to economically distressed communities.

Senator Boxer said: "For the past four decades, EDA has had a successful track record of creating employment opportunities, maintaining existing jobs, and driving local economic growth. But instead of moving forward to reauthorize EDA and encourage private sector investment in hard hit communities nationwide, even long standing Republican supporters of EDA chose to block this bipartisan legislation by conducting a filibuster by amendment. At a time when Americans are concerned about keeping their jobs and making ends meet, we need to pass S. 782 and other jobs bills that will create economic opportunities and help areas of our country that are hurting the most."

S. 782 would have reauthorized the Economic Development Administration (EDA) at $500 million annually for Fiscal Years 2011 through 2015. At this level, EDA was projected to create 434,000 to 1 million jobs over the life of the bill. According to EDA, each dollar of investment was expected to attract nearly seven dollars in private sector investment.

Senator Boxer, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), EPW Committee's Ranking Member, and Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) are original co-sponsors of S. 782.

###