When I visit Chattanooga Saturday, I will deliver an important message to the hardworking men and women of the Volunteer State: Our agenda is working - and we're just getting started.
Simply look at the historic tax cuts that President Trump signed last December. With the strong support of every Tennessee Republican in the Congress, we enacted the largest tax cuts and reform in American history.
Under our tax cuts, the first $24,000 of income for a married couple is now 100 percent income-tax free, nearly double what it was before. We also doubled the child tax credit to $2,000. And we cut out the core of Obamacare by eliminating the individual mandate tax, so Tennesseans will no longer be forced to buy government-mandated health insurance you don't want and can't afford.
All told, the typical family of four in the Chattanooga area will save nearly $2,000 on their taxes every year. This is a win for working families. You know how to spend your paycheck better than any bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., ever could.
We also cut taxes on job creators of all sizes, and businesses across the state and around the nation have responded with renewed investment in their workers.
Nationwide, more than 6 million Americans - including at least 56,000 Tennesseans - have experienced bigger pay raises, better benefits and cash bonuses because of our tax cuts.
The examples are everywhere. McKee Foods, based right here in the area, used its tax cut savings to give up to $1,000 bonuses to its workers. Chattanooga-based Unum also invested its tax cut savings in its workers and communities, providing better benefits like paid parental leave and increasing base wages.
But this is just the beginning. As businesses continue to invest the savings in their workers, we estimate annual wages for Tennessee families will rise by nearly $4,000 in the years ahead.
The Volunteer State is represented by strong Republican leaders in our nation's capital who helped pass President Trump's historic tax cuts. This includes two tireless partners to our president and solid conservatives: Rep. Diane Black and Rep. Marsha Blackburn. They've stood with our president to put more money in the pockets of working families and job creators, and they deserve Tennessee's thanks.
But it's not just our tax cuts. Working with Tennessee's conservatives in Congress, President Trump also has signed more laws rolling back federal red tape than any president in American history. Our administration has eliminated 22 federal regulations for every new rule put on the books.
We've also unleashed affordable American energy to power our factories, farms and homes. We're standing up to predatory trade practices from countries like China, and we're fighting tirelessly to break down trade barriers so Tennessee farmers and manufacturers have new opportunities to expand and export and create more jobs in Chattanooga.
The results have been extraordinary - and the Volunteer State is booming.
Since our election, America's job creators have added nearly 3.7 million new jobs, including more than 85,000 in Tennessee. Under our administration, the unemployment rate in Chattanooga has reached its lowest level in nearly 20 years - and across all of Tennessee, the unemployment rate has reached a record low.
But for all we've done, there's still more to do. The good people of Tennessee can be assured we will continue to keep our promises to you.
President Trump made that clear once again when he nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be the next justice on the Supreme Court. Like all the principled jurists we've put on the federal courts, Judge Kavanaugh will uphold all the God-given liberties enshrined in the Constitution of the United States.
Under President Trump, the forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more. In the days ahead, with the continued support of the hard-working men and women of Tennessee, we'll finish what we started, and we'll Make America Great Again.
Mike Pence is vice president of the United States of America.