[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 24, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         UNDEREMPLOYMENT IS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN THE U.S. ECONOMY

  (Mr. DUNCAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, Time magazine reported last week that there 
have been at least 228,000 layoffs in this country in the past 4 
months.
  A national publication recently ran a cartoon with a sign saying: 
``Short Order Cook Wanted--Degree Preferred.''
  What a commentary on the times.
  People are being laid off from high-paying jobs, and their only real 
options are jobs paying barely above minimum wage.
  Young people are receiving college degrees, and the only places they 
can find employment are in fast-food restaurants.
  I know that unemployment is just 6\1/2\ percent, which is too many, 
but it is relatively low.
  But while unemployment is not presently a major problem, under 
employment is fast being one of the biggest problems we have in this 
Nation today.
  And it will become an even worse problem if we do not let our free 
enterprise system work as it can and should.
  Federal regulators, many with almost a policeman mentality, are 
regulating our economy into real jeopardy.
  The goal of our Federal regulatory agencies should be to help small 
businesses succeed, not to regulate them into bankruptcy or forced 
mergers that destroy good jobs.

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