mr. speaker , as we talk about the economy and talk about the need to have an economic renaissance , to see this continue . 
as i said earlier , we have had 40 consecutive months of economic growth . 
a lot of times women do not look forward to that 40th birthday , but when we talk about the 40th month of economic growth , that is certainly a date that we want to celebrate . 
the gentleman from iowa ( mr. king ) mentioned tax reform and the cost of 22 cents of every dollar of manufactured good in this nation being eaten up by compliance , and the importance of us having a wonderful debate about how we lower that cost so that every sector of our economy is going to see greater productivity and is going to see growth . 
we know that working on our tax reform issues , working on tort reform issues to eliminate frivolous lawsuits , are going to be a way that we can begin to benefit , that we can see the products that are manufactured here be more competitive in a global marketplace . 
as we look at the opportunities for trade in tennessee , for example , where our exports have increased every year for the past 5 years , and we know that does equal jobs . 
over the past 2 years , as the gentleman from iowa ( mr. king ) said , we created about 2.7 million new jobs , and that will soon in a couple of months be 1.5 million new jobs per year . 
there are a couple of industries that have seen good growth in the past couple of months : apparel , textiles , transportation and equipment , electronic components and equipment , chemicals , industrial and commercial equipment and computers , instruments , photographic equipment , metals , food , wood and wood products . 
virtually every state in the union can claim at least one of these industrial sectors . 
in fact , one of the things that we have seen about job creation is that in 48 of our 50 states we have seen jobs growth . 
that is impressive . 
over the past year , 48 of our 50 states have seen jobs growth . 
that is why we are beginning to see this 40 months of overall economic growth , 21 straight months where we are seeing increases in the manufacturing sector , and we know all of this means jobs . 
it all means jobs that are being created . 
we know that there is a lot of work ahead that we need to do to be certain that this economy keeps growing . 
mr. speaker , much of our focus this session is going to be on economic growth , economic competitiveness , doing the things that encourage , that create the right environment . 
our government does not create jobs , it is this free enterprise system that creates jobs , and doing things so we help create the right investment , focusing on tax reform and trade issues , on regulatory reform and on energy independence . 
these are the areas that are going to have a tremendous impact on our economy as it expands . 
we will continue to see growth in those sectors . 
mr. speaker , i yield to the gentlewoman from north carolina ( ms. foxx ) xz4006430 who is new to us this congress . 
the gentlewoman from north carolina ( ms. foxx ) xz4006430 has come to our congress this year and is serving on the committee on education and the workforce . 
and much of her focus , even though her ph.d . 
is in education , she understands the importance of an educated workforce and lifelong learning and developing the skills that are so necessary to be productive in your job , to be satisfied in your job . 
the gentlewoman from north carolina ( ms. foxx ) xz4006430 has some thoughts she would like to share with us tonight on economic competitiveness . 
