[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     JOBS AND THE AMERICAN ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 
discuss the need to create more jobs in the American economy. We have 
had some good news on jobs lately. The Nation's unemployment rate has 
finally dipped below 10 percent, and the economy added 162,000 jobs in 
March alone. It is a start.
  The economic stimulus measures in last year's Recovery Act are 
starting to pay off, but it is still not enough. Over 44 percent of 
unemployed Americans have been jobless for 6 months or longer, the 
highest rate since World War II. For the long-term unemployed, that 
light at the end of the tunnel may feel more like a freight train 
bearing down on them.
  Long-term unemployment cuts across nearly every industry and 
occupation, and happens to workers of all ages. Long-term unemployment 
is bad for families, and it is bad for the country.
  Long-term unemployment can permanently depress a person's future 
wages. A study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago 
followed up on workers who lost their jobs during the recession of 2001 
to 2003. It found that those working again by 2004 earned 17 percent 
less per week than they would have if they had kept their old job.
  Long-term unemployment also drains the Federal purse, not only 
increasing costs for unemployment, Medicaid, and food assistance, but 
also severely reducing income tax revenue.
  I strongly support safety net programs to help families survive bouts 
of unemployment; but, in the end, Americans would rather work. We must 
help get them back to work in jobs that will allow them to care for 
their families and send their children to college.
  That is why I have introduced the Public Lands Rehabilitation and Job 
Creation Act, which will create well-paying jobs fixing roads and 
buildings in our Nation's parks and forests.
  It is why I introduced the Sustainable Property Grants Act, to create 
jobs manufacturing and installing energy efficient equipment for 
commercial properties throughout the Nation. It is why I am working to 
support the President's export initiative, to create well-paying 
manufacturing jobs by expanding overseas markets for U.S.-made 
products. It is why I work hard to ensure that our trade laws and 
agreements are enforced, so U.S. firms don't get undercut by countries 
that don't play by the rules.
  And it is why I spend each day in Congress working with my colleagues 
to fix our economy. I am working to renew the American dream.
  Unfortunately, there are many obstacles in the way. Some Members of 
the other body have played games with efforts to extend unemployment 
benefits. Others are more concerned about retaining corporate tax 
giveaways than they are in working to find solutions that would help us 
pay for job creation efforts, job creation efforts that would help 
families while helping to restore Federal revenues.
  Regardless of the obstacles we face, no matter how bitter our fights, 
nothing we experience in Congress will ever compare to the challenge of 
supporting a family without a job. That is why to my neighbors back 
home in southern California, I pledge to redouble my efforts, to keep 
fighting the good fight, to work tirelessly to bring back jobs and get 
America back on track. And to make sure the light at the end of the 
tunnel really is a ray of hope for a brighter tomorrow.

                          ____________________