CINCINNATI — Thursday, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) released the following statement on the strong economic growth numbers showing the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 33 percent in the third quarter, the biggest gain ever recorded:

“Today’s economic news reinforces the strength of the American economy as we rebuild, reopen, and return to business. We entered this pandemic with a strong economy because of the pro-growth policies of tax reform and regulatory relief pursued by this administration and this Congress. As we work together to emerge from the current crisis, it is critical that we continue to build upon the foundation of the policies that led to such strong economic growth.

“The strong economic news this morning demonstrates that the five bipartisan economic relief packages passed earlier this year clearly kept our economy afloat as we faced the unprecedented challenge of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, we are not out of the woods yet, and I hope Senate Democrats will set politics aside and negotiate in good faith on another COVID-19 response package so that we can give the American people the relief they need.”

Since the beginning of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Portman has consistently called for bipartisan action to provide the health care and economic relief the American need and deserve. Since the last major COVID-19 response package passed on April 21, Portman has delivered more than a dozen speeches on the Senate floor calling for Congress to provide additional relief to bolster our health care response, help our economy and small businesses recover, provide funding for schools and state and local governments, permanently expand telehealth options for addiction treatment, and provide enhanced federal unemployment benefits to help people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

As Portman detailed in a Barron’s op-ed, in order to ensure a continued robust economic recovery, it is critical that we continue the pre-pandemic policies of tax reform and regulatory relief that made the American economy the envy of the world and lifted millions out of poverty while improving the standard of living across the country.