[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H2915-H2916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WINNING THE ECONOMIC WAR AT HOME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, there are two major stories in the news. 
There is one that we see daily, and that is the story of the war in 
Iraq. The other story we hear little about, and that is the economic 
war right here at home.
  Last month the Pentagon announced we will be sending another 100,000 
troops to Iraq, and our hearts are with them. They are putting their 
lives at risk for us. They deserve our support. But last week the 
Associated Press reported that an even greater number of people, 
108,000, lost their jobs, as U.S. companies dealt with the battered 
economy right here at home. These Americans also work every day to 
support the ideals of our Nation and the work ethic. They deserve our 
support.
  It is also ironic to note that prior to the Pentagon's recent 
deployment, there were already 300,000 troops in the vicinity of Iraq. 
In February, according to the Associated Press, businesses here at home 
shed almost as many

[[Page H2916]]

jobs, 357,000 more than previously reported; and yet this morning, 
President Bush announced his opposition to the unemployment extension 
that we attempted to get here today in the budget resolution, calling 
it ``objectionable'' in the statement of administration policy.
  We are hearing lots of plans about aid to flow to the Iraqi people, 
including food and medicine. This is aid that must be provided. But 
while the United States Army also takes on the role of humanitarian 
assistance in a military zone, the Salvation Army here at home is 
facing a swelling need for services and a downturn in donations that 
have led to an unprecedented lack of food for people in our own 
economic war zone.
  The Salvation Army in my own hometown has seen a 42 percent increase 
in requests for assistance just this year. At the start of the fiscal 
year last October, our Women, Infants and Children food program 
reported the highest level of participants ever; and nationally we have 
the highest number of participants in the last 5 years.
  Just since January 2001, America has lost nearly 2 million more jobs. 
In Toledo, my hometown, military spouses are showing up at the Women, 
Infants and Children feeding offices because their husbands have been 
called up for active duty, cutting the income of families by drastic 
amounts.

                              {time}  1830

  The Cleveland Plain Dealer last month told us, at a pantry in 
Columbus's west side, a 67-year-old retiree gets groceries to help feed 
a daughter and a granddaughter who moved in with him last year. He 
remembers relatives telling of bread lines during the Great Depression. 
He never imagined he would see himself in one, let alone wait in one.
  There is no doubt that the United States is the freest and most 
bountiful Nation on earth. That is why people want to come here. But do 
we not owe as much to hardworking Americans as we do to war-torn 
Iraqis? Do we not need to build our economic might here at home as much 
as our military might abroad? Do we not need to plan as much for our 
economic-torn economy as much as we do the Iraqi war-torn economy? Do 
we not need a coalition of allies with labor and management for job 
creation and economic improvement as much as we need a coalition of 
military forces in the Gulf? If we can provide money to airlines who 
are claiming they are being hurt by the war, should we not also provide 
an additional 26 weeks of unemployment benefits to airline workers who 
are the real victims of the slowdown?
  Military war, of necessity, is receiving most of our attention of 
late, but how about the enemy within? The economic war here at home? It 
seems to me that the weapons of war may be more visible when they are 
used, but the damage of an economic war is just as real for individuals 
and families and communities that are suffering here at home. Our State 
is over $4 billion in debt. Our mayor, he is broke. It just seems to me 
that our news ought to talk a little bit about what is happening here 
at home.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time the second war that we are in on our home 
soil gets equal attention in the media.

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