[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 20, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H8]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CALIFORNIA AND THE ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, tonight when President Bush begins to talk 
about the state of the Union, I hope that he includes remarks that will 
address the plight of the people that I represent in my district.
  On the economy, the President will probably talk about how our 
country is coming out of a recession, and in some parts of my district 
the recession has been there for 3 years. In fact, in at least two 
areas I represent, in East Los Angeles, the unemployment rate is still 
above 9 percent. In the city of South El Monte, neighboring the 
community I live by, which is about 70 percent Latino, I would say the 
recession has not gone home. It is there. It is 9 percent.
  Over 60,000 Californians in my State have exhausted their Federal 
unemployment benefits and another 340,000 Californians will lose those 
benefits in the next 4 months alone. Long-term unemployment is at a 20-
year high. President Bush claimed that the $330 billion so-called jobs 
through tax cuts would help create 5.5 million new jobs by the end of 
2004 or 306,000 a month. The thousand jobs added to the economy in 
December left the Nation 305,000 short of the Bush job promise in that 
month alone.
  Grocery workers in the State of California, 70,000, are right now on 
strike. They have no employment and no unemployment insurance, these 
families that we are talking about, not just people that have somehow 
disregarded their employment status. Many are women with children who 
are faced with having to go to food lines and go seeking other types of 
assistance because our State will not even provide them with 
unemployment insurance. The grocery strike is a part of a larger debate 
on health care and wages going on in this country; and these workers, 
and workers around the country, are fighting for fair and livable wages 
and for health care benefits that will allow them to ensure health care 
for their families.
  On homeland security, at a time when we are susceptible to being 
attacked now more than ever, we are seeing more cutbacks in our local 
government enforcement of law enforcement and firefighters. In my 
district, people are telling me that they no longer have the support to 
continue to work overtime. And every time that red alert or orange 
alert goes on, there is a lack of money, of sufficient funds to provide 
for the kind of coverage that we all believe that we should have.

                              {time}  1315

  In health care, the President's Medicaid block grant proposal 
jeopardizes the future of the Medicaid program for millions and 
millions of low-income families and children. At a time when States 
like California are facing growing budget deficits, Medicaid reform 
proposals must focus on strengthening health care coverage and the 
safety net for our Nation's most vulnerable. Block granting Medicaid 
will force States to ration care by limiting the number of people who 
can enroll in those programs. It will reduce services and will increase 
the amount of money that low-income people must pay. Medicaid provides 
health coverage to one in six Americans, more than one-fifth of the 
Nation's children and their future must be the responsibility of this 
government.
  With respect to racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S., they 
continue to suffer poor health care. Their outcomes are not good. In 
fact, the risk for type II diabetes among Latinos is almost twice that 
for non-Latinos. Eliminating these disparities requires a commitment on 
the part of the Federal Government to ensure that the needs of minority 
communities are being heard.
  On education, how can schools, teachers and students be expected to 
meet the high standards of the No Child Left Behind Act when the 
President refuses to fully fund this initiative? At a time when in my 
home State of California, the education budget is threatened by a cut 
of $2 billion, it is unfair to place this additional burden upon our 
children and our parents in California.
  On the environment, Republicans continue to protect the wealthy 
corporate interests and bend over backwards to manipulate our 
environmental regulations to profit their allies. The health of our 
children and families is threatened. We should not sacrifice clean air, 
clean water, our most precious natural resources, and, most 
importantly, the health of our families.
  With respect to Iraq and our veterans, the capture of Saddam Hussein 
was a great victory for our troops. However, we have a lot more to do. 
The war is not over. Our real enemy has not been captured. For example, 
over 500 soldiers have been killed in Iraq, with 372 of them since the 
President declared the end of major combat in Iraq. At this time of 
conflict we are reminded every day that our soldiers' sacrifices should 
not be taken in vain. Although we have lost a significant number of 
soldiers, a lot more, approximately 2,900, have been wounded in combat 
or disabled. Furthermore, these numbers mask the true impact of our 
wounded and fallen soldiers.
  We need to do more. President Bush must encourage the Republican 
Party to keep their promise to our troops and to our country.

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