[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 23, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H4770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          JOBS AND THE ECONOMY

  (Mr. PORTMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am here also to talk about our economy. 
The gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp) just talked about all the 
positive economic indicators. I guess one could say the only economic 
indicator that is not positive are the statements from the presumptive 
Democrat nominee for President. And I do not know why he is doing it 
because it hurts the economy to badmouth the economy, to talk it down. 
It reduces consumer confidence at a time when we need to be sure that 
consumers are confident about where we are.
  Before me, others talked about the fact that our unemployment numbers 
have gone from 6.3 percent down to 5.6 percent. That is lower than the 
average in the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s. 1.4 million jobs have been 
created in the last 9 months.
  Let me talk about those jobs. These are good-paying jobs. After tax 
income increased at a strong 4.9 percent annual rate in the first 
quarter of this year. Think about that. Hourly compensation in the last 
year has gone up 2.7 percent. That is faster than the 1.5 percent in 
the 1990s and people talk about its great growth. Average weekly 
earnings increased 2.5 percent from the same period a year ago.
  So this notion that somehow we are creating jobs but they are not the 
right jobs or not increasing income are just wrong. Income is up. 
Productivity is up. Jobs are up.
  Mr. Speaker, some politicians who are serving their own special 
interests are bad-mouthing this economy, but it is strong and good. It 
can get stronger if we take the right steps here in Congress.

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