[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H1085-H1086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ECONOMIC STIMULUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise to emphasize the 
important responsibility that we have in this Congress, and the 
responsibility is now.
  I am glad to have had the opportunity to listen to my good friend and 
colleague from California. I believe the emphasis of his remarks is 
that the reordering of our economy requires a multitask effort, 
particularly two direct tasks: the recapitalizing of our markets, 
particularly our banks, which Secretary Geithner has spoken to 
eloquently and forcefully this morning, and as well, spending; the 
economic stimulus package. I think where we need to have common 
agreement and bipartisanship is you can't do one without the other.
  So I believe it is important that we answer the question of spending. 
The government is the spender of last resort, not the reckless spender, 
but the spender that will create jobs, create jobs in Indiana and 
Florida where the President is traveling, and create jobs in Texas.
  Yesterday I traveled to one of our work source sites, our sites where 
individuals are able to get information about unemployment benefits. I 
was able to walk through and talk to those who have been unemployed for 
a year or more, and now even more recently. I listened to their 
descriptions and their hardships of trying to find work, listening to 
the construction worker who came from Florida who is well skilled, 17 
years of using heavy equipment, but yet cannot find a job.
  Madam Speaker, we need a stimulus package that is not nickel and 
diming but actually is fiscally responsible by spending the money where 
it needs to be spent. The mayor in the small town of Indiana where the 
President was yesterday said we need money spent. Republicans, 
Democrats, Independents, this is an American issue. We need jobs 
created for Americans.
  So I would hope as we move to conference, we will ensure that the 
infrastructure mark of $12 billion is in place because that will put 
people to work in my own city of Houston. It may create an opportunity 
for $180 million for the Metro system, the mobility system, to begin 
work, and workers utilized for utility work. Remediation work is 
important. It will keep the money for school renovation and repair. 
That is important. Keep the $10 billion for schools. We know that 
598,000 jobs were lost. We now have a total of 21.6 million Americans 
who are unemployed or have gotten out of the system it is so bad. We 
need the stimulus package so 95 percent of working Americans can get 
tax cuts. We need it so that it creates and saves 3 to 4 million jobs, 
including the green energy jobs, the jobs that will allow us to green 
America, to produce alternative energy and be able to retrofit our 
buildings and save energy, the weatherization of our homes.
  It will invest in renewable energy to create green jobs and promote 
health information technology to modernize our health system. We know 
how problematic it is for seniors and people with young children to go 
from doctor to doctor and not have those systems.
  With 21.6 million Americans unemployed, we need a stimulus package 
that works. We also need language in the stimulus package. Do you 
recognize that there is no whistleblower protection for transit 
security offices, the TSA officers that you see that are airport 
screeners, they can't tell you when something wrong has happened that 
creates an unsafe situation, an insecure situation. We need to keep 
language in there that allow those individuals to be protected by 
whistleblower language. Why do we have people who are in security who 
can't tell us that the security system is failing? So I am going to 
argue vehemently that the language in the House bill remain to protect 
transit security officers at our Nation's airports so they can tell us 
what is wrong and what is right.
  What we need most of all is to ensure that we have a stimulus package 
that complements the recapitalizing of our Nation's banks. We need to 
make sure that as the government takes some of these toxic assets, 
working with the private sector, we are spending money to create jobs, 
building highways, bridges, creating Metro systems, making sure our 
buildings are safe, and making sure that children can go to schools 
that are redone, repaired or built from the ground up.
  What kind of America are we? We can put Texans back to work, and 
Houstonians back to work, and those from the Midwest and the East and 
the South. We can do it if we assure ourselves that we have the kind of 
effective program that is here.
  What we want to do also is make work pay. We want that tax credit 
that provides money to the families. We want to increase the earned 
income tax credit and give tax relief for 60 million children through 
the expansion of the child tax credit. That puts money in America's 
hands. So today is an important day. Vote for the American people. Vote 
for the stimulus.
  As a Representative of 18th Congressional District, I have made it a 
top priority to help Houstonians who have retained their jobs during 
this economic situation and bring jobs back to my district for those 
citizens who are still looking for work.
  Just yesterday, I spoke to a man who lost his job in Florida and went 
to Houston because he heard there were jobs there. But a grim reality 
greeted him when he arrived. The job prospects in Houston were no 
better than what he faced in Florida.
  In 2008, Houston's unemployment rate increased from 4.5 percent to 
5.4 percent over the course of only a year. I toured an unemployment 
benefits office in Houston yesterday. It is understaffed and 
overwhelmed. On an average day, more than 100 people would visit that 
office. Unemployment experts expect even more job losses in Houston 
this year.

[[Page H1086]]

  It is critical that Houston residents receive the tools they need to 
reverse the high rates of job loss and the skyrocketing mortgage 
foreclosure rates leaving many families helpless in our region.
  Any economic stimulus bill will need to increase unemployment 
benefits by $25 to seriously address the economic crisis and ensure 
that Americans have money to live and pay their creditors. It will help 
families survive and put food on the table while they look for work. It 
is also our duty to provide up to 33 weeks of additional unemployment 
benefits. It will buy our citizens more time to find employment during 
this grim economic climate.
  Retaining the House version of the increased Earned Income Tax 
Credits, and increased credit for the refundable portion of the Child 
Credit will give families some much needed tax relief to make it 
through this economic climate.
  Children are the forgotten victims of our economic times. The 
Economic Stimulus Bill will help create jobs for our educators. Schools 
in my district in Houston are old and in need of repair. Some are at 
risk of being shut down. Our children are our future. They not only 
deserve to learn in buildings that are up to standard, but the schools 
also need to be modernized with high tech tools to help them compete in 
2009 and beyond. We cannot forget about our children.

  The House version of the stimulus bill sets aside 79-billion dollars 
for our Nation's schools. The money will go towards repairing and 
modernizing the buildings that will shape the future leaders of this 
country. An additional amount was set aside for school construction. 
School construction is critically important because it will create jobs 
and allow Americans to invest in the future of our children. The Senate 
Stimulus Bill only provides 39-billion dollars for our schools. That is 
almost half of the funds proposed by the House Stimulus Bill. Our 
children deserve better.
  The story of my constituents in Houston is also the story of 
Americans throughout the country who are desperately trying to care for 
their families and make ends meet.
  Last month, the U.S. lost more than 500-thousand jobs, bringing the 
total to 21.6 million unemployed Americans. The economy is expected to 
hit record lows in 2009.
  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, America's 
unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent in January. Houston's 
unemployment rate is not as high yet, but any amount above 4 percent 
full employment is a bad sign. That is unacceptable.
  The Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act is critical to avoiding an 
economic disaster. The Senate Bill cuts additional funding to basic 
public safety such as Federal aid to firefighters, the Coast Guard and 
officers with the Transportation Safety Administration. These are 
hardworking men and women who watch over the security of our homeland. 
They keep our families safe.
  The House Stimulus Bill provides additional dollars to programs such 
as Head Start and Violence Against Women. The Senate bill takes dollars 
away from women and children, by cutting funds to these programs. As 
Members of Congress, there is no justification for taking dollars away 
from our most vulnerable citizens--none.
  The Senate bill cuts federal aid to NASA, one of Houston's main 
employers. That means more loss of employment. We need to start 
creating jobs, not cut them.
  This recovery package needs to become a reality with as much funding 
as we can spare to help our citizens. It should address the mortgage 
foreclosure crisis. We need to invest federal dollars into our 
country's infrastructure projects, particularly Houston Metro.
  The Economic Stimulus Bill in both the House and Senate is not simply 
a wish list or an appropriations bill. It is a necessity. I am fighting 
to ensure that Texans get the Federal dollars needed to get citizens 
out of the unemployment office and back into the workforce.

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