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“THE ECONOMY” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S3875 on April 7, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE ECONOMY
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, my colleague from Texas noted we need a united country. I want to briefly respond to my colleague from New Jersey who talked about the economy before I talk about the situation in Iraq.
We had great news: 308,000 new jobs were created in March. Yet my colleagues from across the aisle say, Great news, but; they talk about all the celebration, but; and all the spinning, but. But there is no spinning about 308,000 jobs. The spinning is in the light of good news at a time which we should celebrate.
Americans are worried and concerned about their economic future and job growth and opportunity. We have good news. Why can't we simply be united? Why do we have to take the ``Chicken Little'' approach and say
``the sky is falling, the sky is falling''? We have 308,000 new jobs, but; Pell grants have risen, but; 308,000 jobs, but. We have challenges in Social Security; 308,000 jobs, but.
The reality is not only 308,000 jobs in March, but the Labor Department went back and recalculated the job growth in January and February. What we have is 500,000 jobs over the last 3 months.
Why can't we come together for a moment and try not to create darkness out of light? Why do we have to dim the hopes of the people of this country? Confidence makes a difference. Our economy runs on confidence. We should have confidence based on the facts, and based on all the evidence that has been there for many months about manufacturing growth, investment, and about consumer spending, and now about job growth. Why do we have to spin and twist and turn and create dark clouds for political purposes? I hope we can do better.
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