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.
“FEDERAL ECONOMIC STIMULUS PROPOSALS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H9324-H9325 on Dec. 12, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FEDERAL ECONOMIC STIMULUS PROPOSALS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Rodriguez) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government recently announced what we already knew, that the economy has been in recession since last March. According to the Labor Department, from September to October, the unemployment rate jumped from 4.9 percent to 5.4 percent, the largest 1-month jump since February of 1986. There are now 7.7 million unemployed Americans across this country, an increase of over 1,650,000 since March. The terrorist attack of September 11 only hastened the economic downturn and highlighted the need for a Federal response to stimulate the national economy.
Congress, as we all know, is locked in the debate about how best to quickly revive the U.S. and global economy. We need a response that is tailored to meet the problem, one that puts money in the hands of consumers, one that stimulates job creation, one that helps those most immediately hurt by job losses.
Following the terrorist attack on September 11, the House and Senate budget committees issued a set of principles for the economic stimulus package. These principles stated that any stimulus measure should, first, be limited in duration; secondly, that it not cause the Federal Government to have an on-budget deficit; thirdly, that it not result in high, long-term interest rates; fourthly, that it be approximately $100 billion in size; and, finally, that the cost should be fully offset in the future to ensure maximum repayment of our $5.8 trillion Federal debt. I repeat that, that the cost be fully offset in the future to ensure maximum repayment of that debt. And that is an important point, that we have to make sure that we pay for what we expend.
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Sadly, the House of Representatives' leadership passed a tax bill disguised as an emergency stimulus package which ignored each of those principles. The misnamed Economic Security and Recovery Act, which basically only stimulated the corporations, provides little true economic stimulation to lessen our Nation's recession and will delete the U.S. Treasury of $274 billion over the next 10 years. Some 58 percent, or $161 billion, of this total would come from our Social Security and Medicare trust funds. It is coming at the backs of our senior citizens and their pensions.
In the long run, the bill is likely to increase the long-term interest rates, which would raise home mortgage rates and, thereby, threaten the long-
term growth of the economy. The fiscal discipline of the last 8 years that produced the largest budget surpluses in decades would be wiped out by this legislation, especially when combined with a $2 trillion tax reduction bill passed earlier by this Congress.
The bill includes long-term tax benefits for the wealthiest 2 percent of our taxpayers, $24 billion in retroactive tax relief for the largest corporations in America, accelerating the reduction in the top individual tax brackets affecting those persons making more than
$297,000 per year, and provided $21 billion in tax benefits to U.S. corporate profits made outside the U.S. as long as the money is kept outside this country.
A scant 11 percent of the overall benefits of the bill would benefit those that are unemployed due to the downturn of the economy. That is 11 cents out of every dollar would only go for those that are in need.
The irresponsible failure to offset the cost of those tax cuts will leave us with future budget deficits and upward pressure on long-term interest rates. I would repeat that this bill would come and create additional deficits for our country.
Finally, the passage of this bill, and as we look at a bill, we have to make sure that it helps those that are in need and that it looks at stimulating the economy. It should follow the balanced alternatives that would quickly put money in the hands of people who have been hurt by the economic downturn and most likely to spend it and stimulate the economy. September 11 not only hurt New York, but it hurt everyone. It hurt those people on the borders that are having to wait. I ask that we really take into consideration and that we seriously look at what we are doing and that we vote for an appropriate piece of legislation.
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