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House Republicans on Saturday listed over a dozen bills that have cleared the House but have gone nowhere in the Senate, urging Senate Democrats and President Obama to act on legislation Republicans say would create jobs and grow the economy.

The list was delivered as part of the weekly GOP address by 14 congressmen who sponsored the bills they name.

Republicans "are relentlessly focused on building a strong economy that produces good jobs and lasting opportunities," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. "The trouble is, that task gets harder and harder each time the powers-that-be in Washington won't act on a good idea."

Camp said his own bill, passed 14 months ago by the House, would "protect reforms that have helped thousands of welfare recipients find jobs and lift their families out of poverty."

The problem? "Americans are still waiting for President Obama and Senate Democrats to act," he said.

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President Obama slams congressional Republicans for blocking an increase in the minimum wage and other policies that he says would help working f...

Democrats, of course, would dispute the charge that they've done nothing to grow the economy and create jobs. On several issues, notably immigration reform and unemployment insurance, many Democrats believe the House could pass bills with bipartisan support if House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, would simply call a vote. And on some of the bills Republicans named Saturday - job training and veterans employment, for example - Democrats and the president have offered alternative solutions.

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Republicans: Obama, Senate Democrats failing to act on jobs, economy

Several leading Republicans have called for raising the federal minimum wage and others are speaking more forcefully about the partys failure to connect with low-income Americans stances that are causing a growing rift within the party over how best to address the gulf between the rich and poor.

With most tea party leaders in Congress and elsewhere opposed to a wage hike and intensely focused on dismantling President Obamas health-care law and his second-term agenda, the prospects for raising the minimum wage this year remain slim.

The growing party division, pitting GOP officials fearful of losing the support of workers against staunch conservatives who believe an increase would harm the economy, reflects Republican nervousness about the depth of their support ahead of the midterm elections, even though polls show them poised to retain their House majority and potentially take control of the Senate.

It also comes as Obama and his fellow Democrats are placing a heavy emphasis on income inequality with a number of votes on Capitol Hill and a series of populist speeches by the president all part of an effort to energize the Democratic base and pressure Republicans to act.

The latest GOP fissure came Friday and involved the partys 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, whose campaign was savaged by Democrats after he said that 47 percent of Americans are too dependent on government.

Appearing on MSNBCs Morning Joe, Romney said he parts company with many of the conservatives in my party on the issue of the minimum wage and thinks we ought to raise it.

Romney, who has previously said that the federal minimum wage should be indexed to inflation, joined a group of prominent Republicans who have urged the partys congressional wing to consider lifting it.

The list includes former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who briefly ran for president in 2012, and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, another former 2012 contender who last month published a book lamenting the GOPs reputation as the party of Scrooge.

The issue has not yet risen to the level of attention it deserves, both inside and outside the party, Pawlenty said in an interview. Republicans may benefit from near-term tail winds this fall, but the demographic reality is that diverse voters have a diminishing view of Republicans and that needs to be addressed.

Speaking Monday on MSNBCs The Daily Rundown, Santorum voiced similar views. Lets not make this argument that were for the blue-collar guy but were against any minimum-wage increase ever, he said. It just makes no sense.

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Split appears in GOP as more call for raising federal minimum wage

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Republicans call it a government cover-up similar to what forced Richard Nixon to resign. Democrats call it a right-wing conspiracy theory.

The fallout from the September 11, 2012, terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans continues more than 19 months later, with further details last week that raised questions about how the Obama administration responded to the violence less than two months before the President's re-election.

Few issues reveal the hyper-partisan politics of Washington more than the ongoing debate over an issue now known simply as Benghazi.

Last Friday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa announced that he had subpoenaed Secretary of State John Kerry to testify at a May 21 hearing, alleging that the State Department failed to comply with an earlier subpoena for documents.

House Speaker John Boehner followed up by announcing a special congressional committee led by a Republican colleague would investigate the matter. The House voted on party lines Thursday to create the panel, but Democrats have yet to decide if they will take part in what they claim could be a Republican-led witch hunt.

GOP-led House votes to establish select committee on Benghazi

Hillary Clinton: No reason for new Benghazi committee

Issa called the administration's lack of compliance "in violation of any reasonable transparency or historic precedent at least since Richard Milhous Nixon."

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney shot back that Republicans continued trying to reap political benefit with what he called conspiracy theories about a Benghazi cover-up.

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Benghazi: Government cover-up or right-wing conspiracy?

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