Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, responded to today’s report by the Bureau of Analysis (BEA) that real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 3.2% during the fourth quarter.

“Two strong quarters back-to-back are an encouraging sign. Clearly the doomsday predictions of the sequester and temporary government shutdown were proven wrong.”

“The question now is what path forward will the President take? More of the same slow-growth policies that have held the economy back and devastated the middle class – or pro-growth leadership that reverses the higher taxes, red tape and Affordable Care Act price increases that are discouraging Main Street businesses from hiring?”

Since the recession ended the summer of 2009, the U.S. economy has grown at an annual rate of 2.4%—only a little more than half the average rate of growth compared to other recoveries of the last 50 years. From an employment perspective, the highest jobs month of the Obama recovery is smaller than the equivalent of the average jobs month of the Reagan recovery.