[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 95 (Wednesday, July 20, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 20, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        THE FACTS ON THE ECONOMY

  (Mr. SKAGGS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SKAGGS. Mr. Speaker, when President Clinton took office in 
January 1993, the Nation's economy was stagnant, job growth was slow, 
and despite previous efforts the Federal budget deficit was still 
headed up.
  Now, 18 months later, the picture looks quite different. To those who 
don't believe it, I ask you to listen to these facts:
  Fact: The deficit is down. Measured as a percentage of our national 
income, our deficit is the second lowest of any advanced economy in the 
world--and next year it will be the lowest.
  Fact: Some 3.8 million new jobs have been created since January 1993. 
That's more job growth in a year and a half than in the previous 4 
years combined. That's 3,000 a day. And, these are all private sector 
jobs.
  Fact: Unemployment has fallen, from 7.7 percent at the end of the 
Bush administration to 6 percent today.
  Fact: The Federal Government is shrinking. Federal spending as a 
percentage of our national income is lower now than under President 
Bush or Reagan--the lowest since 1979. By 1999, we will have eliminated 
272,000 Federal positions, and we'll have a Federal work force that's 
smaller than it's been since the Kennedy administration.
  Fact: Consumer confidence is up--now at the highest level in about 4 
years.
  It's time to give credit where credit is due. The economic plan the 
President and Democrats in Congress passed last year is working. The 
facts about 18 months of economic progress prove it. Federal Reserve 
Board Chairman Alan Greenspan has said the economy is in the best shape 
in decades. His words: ``The U.S. economy has recently been 
experiencing the ideal combination of rising activity, falling 
unemployment and slowing inflation.''

                          ____________________