Washington DC— U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), Vice Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee and senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, reacted to today’s report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis that real GDP grew at an annualized rate of 2.2% during the 1^st-quarter 2012.

Brady said, “While I am thankful that the economy continues to expand, the damage being done by the Obama Administration’s policies have produced a weak recovery.  In the eleven quarters since the end of the recession GDP growth has averaged only 2.4%.  That’s less than half the 6.1% we averaged during the Reagan recovery.”

Expressing concern Brady noted, “Fixed business investment actually declined at an annual rate of 2.1%. This is the first decline in fixed business investment since the fourth quarter of 2009. Fixed business investment still has not recovered to prerecession levels.  It is this kind of investment that drives job creation in the private sector, not large buildups in inventories.  We need to get government out of the way and let the free market create jobs and opportunity for all Americans.”