Government policies have made life difficult for middle-class families like Thomas and Melissa Clements. Their business in Broussard, LA, has suffered from the Obama administration’s offshore drilling moratorium and subsequent permitorium. Tomorrow morning Thomas is coming to Capitol Hill to talk about his struggles at a congressional hearing.

Clements recently appeared in a video produced by Heritage and the Institute for Energy Research on the moratorium’s economic impact. His business, Oilfield CNC Machining LLC, has suffered from the government’s delays in permitting.

This week’s hearing, organized by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, is titled, “Stories from the Kitchen Table: How Middle Class Families are Struggling to Make Ends Meet.”

Clements will join Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Susan Sipprelle, a multimedia journalist from Englewood, NJ, and Amanda Greubel, director of the Family Resource Center at Central Clinton Community Schools in DeWitt, IA.

The hearing starts at 10 a.m. Thursday at 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building. It will also be streamed live from the committee’s website.