The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“JOBS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3324-H3328 on May 23, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
JOBS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 5, 2011, the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to lead the Congressional Black Caucus this hour to talk about jobs and the need for job creation in communities across this country.
General Leave
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Before I begin, I would like to ask, Mr. Speaker, unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order, which is jobs.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands?
There was no objection.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Amidst reports of improvement in the economy--and the April jobs report was one of those examples--we are in a steady, yet slow, recovery. But that recovery has not been felt by the millions of Americans who are out of work or who are working in jobs that are well below their potential. And no more is the pain of the recession felt than in the African American community where unemployment is high in good times but now remains the highest of all population groups in this country at 16.1 percent.
And so along with saving homes, job creation remains a primary focus of the Congressional Black Caucus and of House Democrats. We are determined to build on the more than 3 million jobs created or saved by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And so as a key part of this effort before we left for last week's constituent work period, House Democrats launched a Make It in America agenda, which we wholeheartedly support.
Over the past 3 years, we have passed legislation to prevent multinational corporations from outsourcing jobs overseas, to give tax credits to small businesses to hire new employees, to restore the credit to small businesses because they are the engine of our economy and of job creation. Our Make It in America agenda continues and expands on that effort by a number of pieces of legislation introduced by members of the Democratic Caucus: legislation to support developing a national strategy to increase manufacturing, to invest in infrastructure and support the flow of commerce, to keep our country competitive in the global marketplace, to further support small businesses, to develop an innovative education policy, and to put smart regulations in place which protect our people and our environment while improving government efficiency.
Democrats have already introduced bills to further these goals, and we are calling on the Republican leadership to end the assaults on health care reform and the blocking of the green economy we need to build, asking them to support both of these important pillars of President Obama's agenda which will create jobs. And I ask them to bring our job-creating legislation to the floor.
At this time, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Georgia, Congressman David Scott.
Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. I want to commend you, Congresswoman Christensen, for your leadership and for what you're doing.
Ladies and gentlemen of America and this Congress, our economy is struggling, and nowhere is it struggling more than in the area of unemployment and joblessness, and, correspondingly, with home foreclosures and the value of our housing stock going down. Those are the two very serious points on the compass that we have got to declare an emergency situation on because they are both so very related. If a man does not have a job or a young lady does not have a job, how can they stay in their home?
And so I want to just talk for a few minutes about, one, you really can't figure how to get out of a situation unless you stop and you think of how you got into it. The one thing I've noticed about people who have lost their sight, they may need a little help as they come to get into a room, but I will tell you, that person without his sight feels his way of how he got into that room; and how he gets out of that room, he can feel his way back out. So it might do well for us just to pause for a moment.
We go back to our economic downturn. There were some failures that we made. We rushed--rightfully so, in many respects--to bail out Wall Street, to bail out America's big business structure. We did that. We had to unfreeze the credit markets on Wall Street in order to keep it moving. But if there is one thing we learned from our previous, very challenging economic difficulties--and the most recent one being the Depression. We got out of that Depression by not only making sure that our big companies, making sure that Wall Street and our bankers and our investors and our multinational corporations were able to survive. Our failure was that we did nothing to help Main Street at the same time.
The one thing we learned in the Depression is, yes, you have to do both: You've got to put money up at the top, you've got to put it in the middle of the economic stream and at the lower end of the economic stream, because you have to get people spending money. Jobs are created when people spend money.
We are a mass consumption society, which means our economy moves not on the wealthy being able to go buy a car; our economy moves on thousands and millions of people being able to buy the car, to buy the clothes, to buy the food in the restaurants. Our failure to do that. And so we had a top-down economic recovery instead of a top, middle, and bottom at the same time.
So here we are. And that's why right now our multi-corporations are having staggering profits.
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Our CEOs are making huge salaries and bonuses, all that we helped. And I don't begrudge them. I am a believer in capitalism. I graduated from the citadel of capitalism, the Wharton School of Finance. I am a businessman. So I don't begrudge that, but what I do begrudge is our failure to help the little fellow. Now we're beginning to do that.
But what we must do is realize that all of this time, we're in this recovery now for almost 3 years, and we have 13 million Americans without work. We have a national unemployment of 8.7 percent. It's coming down. Some of our policies are working. In my own State of Georgia, our unemployment rate is a staggering 9.9 percent--563 Georgians are without work.
And so that means that we're not doing enough. There are certain areas we can work in. For example, we need to evaluate the programs that we say we have put out there to help with the unemployment level.
Now, we know we have put a program together which will give corporations a 6 percent reduction or a reduction of their part of the payroll tax if they hire an unemployed person. Well, where is the report card on that? How is that doing? That's one of the things that we need to get; we need measurement to see how successful it really is.
We need to also look to the future and look at what policies we can put together with corporations, because what we're doing is not enough. I would submit that wouldn't it be interesting and wouldn't it be worthy of consideration.
We know, for example, that we have just about the highest corporate tax rate in the world. Clearly our multinational, our largest corporations, our largest employers want to see that corporate tax rate come down. Many are wanting it to come down to 25 percent. I am on the side of taking a look at that, because we don't want to have the highest corporate tax rate in the world. It hurts our marketplace. It hurts everything. We know that. That is an issue.
But if we know these multinational corporations are having a record now of outsourcing jobs, should we not have a conversation with them at the table? Okay, you want your corporate tax rate reduced? Let's talk about how you can stop sending jobs out of this country. We need Americans who are working at American jobs in America.
I think that these large employers and corporations with these international markets will be willing to sit down and say, you know what, in exchange for us getting our corporate tax rate down, here's what we can do to start bringing in our manufacturing and bring it back to America so that we can make things in America. One of the reasons we've got such a high jobless rate is because we don't make anything here anymore. Manufacturing is the main source of jobs. We lost that.
Well, we can use this as an incentive to these companies. Say, okay, we can bring that corporate tax rate down; but we want you to bring those jobs back here, and we want you to start making things in this country. Let's look out for America, look out for us. That is something that we can do.
And so, Madam Congresslady from the Virgin Islands, you're doing a wonderful job with this.
This is the number one issue facing this country. I can't tell you how desperate people become when they can't find work. I can't tell you how depressed people become when people are used to working and they wake up every morning with no place to go. Or they have to make certain decisions and some can't find food or buy the food to feed their families. That is the situation we're in with these 13 million American people.
We can do better. We've got to evaluate what we're doing, and we've got to put more creative things on the table, such as the corporate tax rate. Let us tie that to corporations bringing these jobs back and doing what they can to help turn our country back into a manufacturing base.
When you lose your capacity--when this country lost its capacity to be the leader of the world in making things, we lost a lot. And by George, we need to get it back. And that's the way America will survive, and that's the way we'll bring this unemployment rate down.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Scott. I thank you for calling attention to the need to restore the manufacturing base in this country as the Democrats are attempting to do with our Make It in America agenda. And thank you for reminding everyone that Main Street is still not taken care of and that there is a critical connection between the jobs crisis and the housing crisis and why they need to be dealt with now as an emergency.
I would just call on our leadership, the Republican leadership: Let's stop trying to unravel President Obama's agenda, which is an agenda that creates jobs. We've been here for almost 5 months, and not one job has been created by any legislation that the majority has brought to the floor. It's time to get busy. Main Street is calling on us.
At this point, I'd like to yield as much time as he would consume to the Congressman from Illinois, Congressman Danny Davis.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Thank you very much.
Let me, first of all, commend you for the tremendous leadership that you provide to this effort each Monday evening.
As I was thinking about it, I was thinking of the fact that people who observe racing oftentimes describe horses in two ways. Sometimes they're the show horse, and then there's the workhorse. I guess when it comes to working as a Member of Congress, I don't think you have any peer. As a matter of fact, you have led our efforts. We came into the Congress at the same time. We're classmates.
You've led our efforts on health care. You've led our efforts on making sure that natural resources were divided in a serious way, and you're leading our efforts as the first vice chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. So I am pleased to join with you this evening.
As we consider policies to help Americans and our Nation recover from the worst economic crisis in our history--and I never forget this gentleman--I remember something that Dr. Martin Luther King said at one time. He said that the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. I agree with him.
This is indeed a time of challenge for our country with a current unemployment rate of 9.9 percent, an expected rate of over 8 percent for the next several years, and record levels of food insecurity and foreclosures.
As in many other States, the average unemployment rate in Illinois during 2010 for blacks was above 15 percent, above 13 percent for Latinos. And with persistently high unemployment numbers, the need for Federal unemployment assistance remains a vital lifeline for millions of our citizens.
In January of 2011, the share of unemployed workers who had been without work for over 6 months was 43.8 percent--one of the highest percentages on record--translating into about 6.2 million workers remaining unemployed for longer than 6 months.
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In April 2011, just under 185,000 Illinoisans received extended unemployment benefits, with an estimated 100,000 Illinoisans exhausting the maximum 99 weeks of unemployment assistance in 2010. Although our economy is gradually gaining, we cannot ignore the fact that the economic crisis remains a daily reality for millions of Americans, nor can we ignore the fact that the crisis unevenly affects African Americans and Latino Americans.
During times of challenge, I sincerely believe that the mantle of responsibility for caring for the poor and struggling falls squarely on the shoulders of government, not primarily on the charity of individual citizens. In such times of hardship and strife, government leaders should extend help to the needy, not advance the wealth of the most secure. For this reason, I am deeply disappointed in the Republican bill moving in the House that would hurt both our economy and the long-
term unemployed, some of the most vulnerable citizens in our Nation.
The Republican plan would essentially curtail assistance to Americans struggling with prolonged unemployment so that States could lower their debt to the Federal Government. This approach is bad for the economy and bad for Americans. Unemployment insurance is one of the most effective methods of stimulating the economy, because the unemployed workers spend most of the money that they get on critical purchases, such as food and housing, other than the alternatives offered by the Republican bill. If we allow this $31 billion to go to State debt reduction, there is no new economic activity, and millions of families will not be able to put food on their tables or roofs over their heads. It is not only the 4 million workers who currently receive long-term unemployment benefits who will suffer; it is our businesses as well.
The retail sector has been hard hit by this recession. Cutting unemployment benefits for millions of people would take a tremendous toll on these businesses as well. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that current law generates approximately $40 billion in economic activity and creates about 322,000 jobs. Enacting the Republican approach would dramatically reduce the economic stimulus of our Federal Government and cut jobs.
Unemployment benefits only provide an average of $290 a week, which typically replaces only half of the average family's expenses. This support is not a free ride or boon for families; it is a critical lifeline during a national emergency to help our citizens who are suffering. The Wall Street Journal reported that roughly 1 million people across the Nation couldn't find work after exhausting their unemployment benefits. There are about 7 million fewer jobs now than at the beginning of the Great Recession, and the Department of Labor data show that there are over four unemployed Americans for every job. Needing unemployment assistance is about not being able to find work in a weak economy with limited job opportunities. It's not about being lazy.
The Republican bill is not a jobs bill. It is a jilting the jobless bill. It pits States that are struggling with large deficits against the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. I urge that we continue the fight to secure improvements in this proposal, to protect the hundreds of millions of hardworking Americans who need the government's help to weather the extended storm of economic hardship.
I commend you again for your tremendous leadership. Thank you very much for leading this effort.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Davis, for joining us this evening, and thank you for your kind words. I am very proud to be a part of a Congressional Black Caucus, which is made up of 43 workhorses, and I am just glad to be able to work along with all of them.
Thank you for calling attention to the need to extend unemployment benefits for the many who are still without a job. The jobs are just not there, and the Republican majority is not creating any. We need to continue this lifeline to our families and to the communities that they live in. So thank you for raising that issue again.
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Thank you.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I yield such time as he might consume to the gentleman from Virginia, Congressman Bobby Scott.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Thank you. I appreciate you yielding time, and appreciate you bringing to the attention of the American public the need for continued support for those who are unemployed. The current economic climate has taken a toll on many families across the Nation. While the economy may be growing, there are still almost 14 million unemployed people nationally, and the unemployment rate is hovering at 9 percent. We need to take serious steps to address this crisis and create policies that create jobs.
From a long-term perspective, we need to be investing in our workforce by investing in education, in job training, beginning with early childhood education, and continuing through college and vocational education, as well as adult education and training. Unfortunately, the Republican budget makes huge cuts in our Nation's education system by cutting investments in education by over 50 percent and zeroing out many job-training investments. These cuts include services such as elementary and secondary education, educational innovation, career and technical education, cuts to community colleges, and postsecondary education. The budget also cuts the maximum Pell Grant, a vital program that makes college affordable for young students, and takes away eligibility for over a million students.
So we should be trying to work to get people back to work and increase innovation. So we ought to be actually spending more, not less. But with these cuts, fewer people will have access to education and training that they need to fuel the economic productivity and compete for the good jobs that are occurring in our labor market today.
So on a long-term basis, we need to ensure that we are building a strong and capable workforce. In the short term, we need to make sure that people who have lost their jobs during the recession are not left out in the cold. Currently, for every one job opening there are over four people applying. This means that whatever the job applicants do to help themselves, there will still be many people left out in the cold.
To add insult to injury, many applicants are not getting consideration for jobs because they have been unemployed for too long. Many employers will screen applicants and require that they are holding a job to be considered for a new job. When they find out that they are unemployed, many employers will not consider them for employment. So those who are looking for a job and have been looking for a job for a long time find that it's even harder to find a job. And these are the people that have been unemployed for 60, 90, or even 99 weeks. They are dejected, and being cut off from unemployment insurance, and not given a fair shot at a job that they are applying for.
Our focus should be particularly on what to do about the long-term unemployed and keeping them on their feet. In February, Congresswoman Barbara Lee from California and I introduced the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act to provide 14 additional weeks of unemployment compensation for the chronically unemployed so that they can stay afloat during their job search, at least until our recession is over and jobs have returned. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act would, if passed, give these hardworking Americans a little more time to find a job without having to worry about making ends meet.
Now, we have to note that receipt of unemployment compensation is conditioned first on the fact that you lost your job through no fault of your own and that you are actively looking for a job and will accept a reasonable job. So these are conditions of receiving unemployment compensation. Unfortunately, this compassionate bill has been stalled in committee, and the majority of the House has not taken action on it.
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To make matters worse, just a few weeks ago a new bill had been introduced in the House, which will actually weaken the unemployment compensation program. They call it the Jobs, Opportunity, Benefits, and Services Act. They call it the JOBS Act.
It would allow States to divert the Federal funds it received to pay for unemployment compensation to other purposes, including tax cuts. Jobs, that so-called JOBS Act, will essentially allow States to terminate payments of unemployment benefits, potentially eliminating
$40 billion in economic activity, according to CBO estimates. So not only are they failing to extend benefits during a time of constant high unemployment; some now want to cut off benefits all together.
Critics of the unemployment compensation believe that providing unemployment benefits will give people an incentive not to work, that people receiving unemployment compensation will merely collect the benefits as long as they can without looking for a job. But a condition of receiving the benefits, one of the conditions is you have to be actively looking for a job.
While that criticism may apply to a few bad apples, the overwhelming majority of Americans who are chronically unemployed would rather enjoy the dignity of work instead of collecting a weekly check from the government; many of these checks, on a national average, will average
$260 a week, clearly not enough for a family to survive. The overwhelming majority of chronically unemployed do not want a handout; they would like a job.
While unemployment compensation helps the unemployed, unemployment benefits also help the economy. Economists estimate that in the U.S. economy, the U.S. economy grows by $1.61 for every dollar the government spends on unemployment compensation, because unemployed people will obviously spend every dime right away. This is in stark contrast to the economic activity generated by tax cuts, where many of the tax cuts will generate about 17 cents of economic activity for every dollar of tax cuts. This is the $1.61 for every dollar in unemployment compensation.
So, simply put, the unemployment compensation is one of the most effective and efficient ways to stimulate the economy, and we should be focusing on providing the kind of support and stimulus to the economy in conjunction with making bold investments in our education system and our workforce. We need to make sure that we make those long-term investments in education and job training. We also need to make sure that we have a compassionate short-term solution by providing the safety net for millions of Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and haven't found a job yet.
These jobs just don't exist, and we also have to oppose the elimination of unemployment compensation by redirecting those funds to whatever the States may want, including tax cuts. That is simply wrong.
So I thank you for pointing out the need for the unemployment compensation program to continue and even be improved and oppose those initiatives that want to sabotage the unemployment compensation system.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you, Congressman Scott, for reminding us that we are really not out of a recession. This is the time where we need to invest and to continue those unemployment benefits, and thank you for talking about the people who are unemployed.
We hear so many misconceptions spread about people who are receiving unemployment. They really would prefer to have a job. They are actively looking, as you have pointed out, to be able to receive those unemployment benefits. It's a shame the way that some of our colleagues speak about people who are really trying to find a job where there are no jobs to be found and need that extra help. So I really appreciate your coming and joining us this evening.
One of the other things that the Congressional Black Caucus has been advocating for is summer jobs for our young people. It's important for us to have them meaningfully occupied and employed during that summer vacation. It seems like we are going back to what we used to have to do in the previous administration and keep begging and begging for summer jobs for our young people. It's critically important.
I also don't understand why there is so much objection to our building a green economy. If we don't, we will be left behind the rest of the world in this important sector. Creating that economy would build on the tens of thousands of jobs that were created with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and moving to renewable energy and the jobs that that will create is good for our environment. It will slow climate change, it is good for our health, and it is good for our economy.
It would build jobs, sustainable jobs, and help us to build a strong and more sustainable economy for the future. It's good for profit, it's good for the planet, and it's good for people.
I want to just talk a little bit about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Would the gentlewoman yield before she goes on to the next issue?
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I yield to the gentleman.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. It's so important that you have mentioned summer jobs and opportunities they get to help get young people on the right track and keep them on the right track, get them used to a working environment and get them set for their future lives. But also, with so many people unemployed today in the construction area and at a time when we have trillions of dollars and needs in terms of roads and bridges and tunnels and other infrastructure projects, this is a time where we really ought to be investing in those for our future.
Those projects would be coming in, and the bids on those projects would be at the lowest they have been historically so that, as you pay for them over the course of time with bonds, you will be paying at a much lower rate, and those needs are certainly there today. So we need to make those investments in job creation in terms of roads and bridges and other infrastructure. It's a great time to do it, and the people need those jobs.
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Thank you for adding that issue to the discussion this evening.
Let me just go back to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, because despite its immediate and projected successes, our friends on the other side of the aisle continue their efforts to repeal and underfund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Despite the rhetoric to the contrary, this new law lifts more than 30 million Americans out of the ranks of the uninsured, protects the health care consumer from unjust practices that have occurred in our health care system for far too many decades, and preserves and improves the health care and thus the wellness of some of our Nation's most vulnerable residents--our children and our seniors.
My colleagues and I have and will continue to highlight the deleterious health consequences that would result if these attacks on health care reform ever moved from a policy proposal to enactment, and we will continue to oppose any attempt to undermine this important law.
It's also critically important to remember, though, that while repealing health care reform will have very obvious, very negative impacts on health and wellness, the repeal of any part of the law created by the Affordable Care Act will also have an equally horrendous impact on the economy and more directly on jobs.
The data is in; it's indisputable. There is no evidence that health care reform hurts or eliminates jobs. In fact, since the health care reform bill was passed in March of last year, there has been private sector growth month after month after month, leading to the creation of a total of 1.4 million new private sector jobs, and we are counting. Further, of these 1.4 million new jobs that were created, both directly and indirectly from health care reform, 243,000 of them, almost a quarter of a million of them, are directly in the health care sector. All of this job and growth job expansion has occurred in just 1 year.
While that's good news, there was even better news that came out of a recent study out of Harvard University, which found that health care reform, as enacted by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, would create up to 4 million jobs over the next 10 years. Compare that to 8 years of policies under the previous administration that literally eliminated 673,000 private sector jobs while at the same time exacerbating our Nation's plight with uninsurance, spiraling health care costs, and worsening health disparities.
Once you make the comparison, ask yourself which policies are truly better for American jobs, for the American economy, for the health and wellness of Americans, and for the Nation as a whole. Is repealing health care reform better when we know that the repeal not only would increase medical spending, the repeal would increase medical spending by $125 billion by the end of this decade and increase family insurance premiums by nearly $2,000 every year? But it will also destroy as many as 400,000 jobs every year over the next decade.
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The answer is simply no. We need to stay on this path, one with an upward trajectory, because it is the path that not only includes a reformed, transformed health care system, but it's also a path that creates jobs, lowers the unemployment rate and saves employers, both large and small, money that they can reinvest by creating additional jobs for millions of Americans. It is a path that we have been hoping to find; it is a path that we have struggled to get on; and now that we're on it, it is a path that is delivering on its promises.
I don't believe I have any further speakers, so at this time I just want to reiterate that we've been here for almost 5 months. Nothing that has come to this floor has created jobs. Communities like mine and communities that most of my colleagues represent in this body still have high unemployment. There are no jobs. We need to continue to provide unemployment insurance. We need to work to begin to create the jobs that the people of America need.
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss Democratic initiatives for creating jobs and rebuilding the economy.
While Republicans were busy voting to end Medicare in order to give more tax breaks to big oil, they forgot one important task--job creation.
With the fragile economy just beginning to recover, Americans cannot afford the Republicans' reckless ``So Be It'' attitude toward job creation.
Their failure to propose a single jobs bill after more than four months in the majority is alarming and is indicative of a general lack of concern for the needs of our constituents.
Under the Obama administration, almost 2 million jobs have been created over the last 15 months.
The 244,000 total jobs added last month is the largest in nearly a year, with broad-based gains in retail trade, manufacturing, health care, leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services.
While this is an impressive feat, we need to dig deeper in order to replace the 8 million jobs that we lost during the Bush Administration.
The African American community continues to bear the brunt of the unemployment crisis; close to 16 percent of African Americans are out of work and still looking for jobs.
In some cities, African American unemployment rates have hit Depression levels. This is unacceptable.
The American people have spoken and Democrats are listening; job creation is the key to economic recovery and growth.
Democrats' ``Make It in America'' agenda is a powerful initiative based on the conviction that when more products are made in America, more families will be able to make it in America.
This comprehensive domestic manufacturing strategy is about investing in innovation and clean energy, helping our small businesses and workers compete, rebuilding America, and keeping jobs here at home.
For example, the Make It in America Block Grant Act establishes a grant program at the Commerce Department to provide small to medium-
sized businesses, in communities hardest hit by unemployment, with the resources and strategies they need to transition to the manufacturing of clean energy, high technology, and advanced products.
Equally promising is the Job Opportunities Between Our Shores Act, which establishes a Workforce Investment Act pilot program to provide education and training programs in advanced manufacturing.
These bills, along with other Democratic initiatives, prove that Democrats are listening to the American people as they continue to ask,
``Where are the jobs?''
Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. I yield back the balance of my time.
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