[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H4100-H4101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        ECONOMIC CHALLENGES FACING OUR NATION'S WORKING FAMILIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Chocola). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardoza) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. CARDOZA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the economic 
challenges facing our Nation's working families. The latest 
unemployment figures make it official: We are now in the longest period 
of job losses in America since the Great Depression. America

[[Page H4101]]

has lost half a million jobs in just the last 3 months. Today 8\1/2\ 
million Americans are out of work, and millions more are working in 
part-time jobs because they cannot find full-time employment.
  Let us look at the facts. Since January 2001, when this 
administration took office, we have seen a massive shift in policy away 
from fiscal discipline in favor of a record of deficits. The results of 
this policy could not be any clearer. We have seen 2.2 million lost 
jobs and an economy spiralling out of control.
  As I talk to the people in my district in California, I find a high 
level of anxiety because of this economy. In my district, and in the 
surrounding region, we have the highest unemployment rates in the 
entire Nation. It is a terrible situation, and it is not an 
overstatement to say that my constituents are going through an economic 
depression.
  We have thousands of people in central California who are suffering 
through no fault of their own. The unemployed need our help. That is 
why we are here today on this floor. These people who are intelligent, 
hard-working and educated folks are out on the street. They are running 
out of unemployment benefits, and some of them have already run out.
  The fact is the good people in my State and across the Nation need 
this House's help, and we have only 17 days until we reach May 31, the 
day the last extension of unemployment benefits will expire.
  That is why so many Democratic Members from across all ideological 
spectrums are upset. We want to make sure that the people's voices from 
our districts are heard. That is why this House ought to be a place 
where the people's voices are heard.
  What do we say to the long-term unemployed whose checks have already 
run out, who do not know where they are going to get the money to pay 
for the rent, who do not know if they will get evicted, who do not know 
how they will be able to feed their children? Instead of listening to 
the voices of the unemployed, the administration and the majority in 
Congress have focused solely on the need for additional tax cuts, 
completely ignoring the dangers posed by higher deficits.
  Twenty-four years ago when I was an intern to the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Frost) who spoke earlier on this floor, I sat at my desk and 
listened for hours as the Republican Party railed against high 
deficits. In the last 24 years, it seems that they have forgotten those 
speeches, and now they have forgotten the philosophy in favor of fiscal 
irresponsibility.
  A short-term deficit is certainly understandable given the recession 
and the need to respond to last year's terrorist attacks, but the tax 
cut package approved by this House last week would do serious harm to 
the long-term fiscal health of this Nation. The proposal centers on 
permanent changes that would further worsen an already poor long-term 
budget outlook and risks increasing long-term interest rates, which I 
call the debt tax.
  In my district it would do nothing to help the vast majority of 
working families. In fact, I recently commissioned a study that showed 
that most families in the central valley of California would see little 
or no benefits from the Republican proposal to reduce taxes on capital 
gains or dividends. The report also showed that the full tax cut 
package handily favored only 1 percent of the taxpayers of the 18th 
Congressional District of California.
  Mr. Speaker, the tax cut bill offers nothing to help the unemployed 
and those truly struggling in our stagnant economy. It squeezes 
important programs out of the budget, forcing cuts in Medicaid, in 
child care assistance, in veterans benefits and more. In short, this 
bill compromises the long-term solvency of both the Federal budget and 
the American economy, and it also further strains the California 
budget, devastated by the weak economy in our State.
  Instead of enacting the reckless provisions of this Republican tax 
bill, I believe our economy would be best served by pursuing a strategy 
of responsible planning and fiscal discipline that will shrink, rather 
than grow, our national debt. These guiding principles are good for the 
economy, the government, and, most importantly, for American families.
  We need a stimulus plan that creates jobs and puts people to work 
now, instead of the majority and the administration's proposal being to 
trot out more of the same failed economic policies that have failed 
time and time again.
  There is a case for considering a stimulus package, and I strongly 
support the alternative stimulus package offered by the Democrats. This 
economic plan offers exactly the kind of stimulus our economy needs. I 
hope we have the chance to vote for it in the near future.
  Mr. Speaker, let us fight for those unemployed folks in my district 
and throughout America.

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