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“COMPARING CONGRESS TO THE MOVIE ``GROUNDHOG DAY''” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H4141 on June 15, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
COMPARING CONGRESS TO THE MOVIE ``GROUNDHOG DAY''
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Garrett of New Jersey). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Emanuel) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, here we go again. Lately around this Congress I feel like it is Groundhog Day. I never knew that Bill Murray became a consultant to the Republican Conference. As you know, in the movie Bill Murray's character relived the same day over and over again, and here in Congress we are doing the same.
Take the energy bill that we were just debating so eloquently here. The same bill, nothing has happened to the bill, same bill we took up back in November, H.R. 6. The only thing different is a new number. That is the only thing that is different about this energy bill. It never moved in the Senate, the President has not gotten behind it and gotten it passed or anything. Yet we take up again.
Here are some the things Congress has done just the same, while the American people face higher costs for college education, health care, energy costs, and their pay stubs are not getting any better.
H.R. 4280, medical malpractice bill, same as H.R. 5. We took it up in March of 2003. Nothing happened, but we took it up again.
H.R. 4281, the Association Health Plan bill, the same as the H.R. 660, which originally was taken up in June of 2003, but no action in the Senate.
H.R. 4409, the teacher training bill, the same as H.R. 2211 which we took up in July 2003, but no action in the Senate.
H.R. 4411, the graduate studies bill, the same as H.R. 3076. We took it up in October of 2003, no action in the Senate.
Ironically, there is nothing new here in the Republican plan. Somehow they have decided that motion is better than action, that rather than doing something it is better to look like you are doing something.
As the American people struggle to make ends meet, as they struggle to meet the challenges of trying to send their kids to college, they used to be able to do it with one job, now they need two to educate their children, as the American people struggle to deal with health care costs that have gone up by one-third. It used to be $6,500 for a family of four, now it is $9,000 for a family of four. What do we do? Take up bills that have gone nowhere and are going nowhere, just so it looks like this body is doing something, while you face constant challenges trying to meet the needs and requirements of your family.
Today, the Labor Department reported that consumer prices increased by nearly one point last month, the sharpest increase since January 2001. Since 2000, health care insurance premiums have increased from
$6,500 to nearly $9,000. College tuition has on average increased by
$1,200 a year the last 3 years in a row. In my home State of Illinois, the average graduate from the State university graduates with a diploma and, on the other side, $15,000 of debts. Who knew on graduation day you get your first Visa bill? Care costs have increased by $2,000, and average yearly gasoline costs by $1,000.
What does the Congress do, the People's House? We take up legislation that we have taken up before that is going nowhere and going nowhere fast. It is Groundhog Day here in this Congress. We have lost nearly 1.5 million private sector jobs since 2000, and family incomes have declined on average 1,500.
The average American household now carries $9,000 in credit card debt and $17,000 in overall household debt. The squeeze has resulted in 1.6 million households declaring bankruptcy in 2003, a 33 percent increase since 2000. The administration's budget, while these challenges are facing the American families, has cut job training, underfunded Leave No Child Behind, the education initiative by nearly 9 billion, and cut housing and home ownership programs.
The American people, in my view, deserve better. Rather than revisiting last year's failed energy bill, we should be working to reduce the cost of energy prices today and natural gas prices. We should be working to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We should be working to ensure that we increase the Pell Grant, college assistance, the Perkins loans, and ensure that we pass a Higher Education Reauthorization Act.
But we are not going to do that. So what we are going to do is take up medical malpractice, which we took up before, but it is going nowhere. We are going to take up the energy bill that failed to go anywhere, just so you have the impression we are doing something here.
It is Groundhog Day, and Bill Murray has now become a member of the Republican Conference. The American people cannot afford for us to repeat the same mistakes until we get it right, nor should they have to.
Mr. Speaker, President Kennedy once said, ``To govern is to choose.'' From this day forward, we should choose to govern.
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