[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 25, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           JOBS ARE PRIORITY

  (Mr. ELLISON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the importance 
of continued support for jobs for Americans.
  When America faced massive unemployment in the 1930s, our government 
stepped up with the WPA and the CCC. It's time to continue that drive, 
as the Democratic Congress has been doing without much help from our 
Republican colleagues.
  The fact is that local governments have been hardest hit in the area 
of job cuts. Local governments have lost over 140,000 jobs in 2008 and 
2009, and the number keeps growing. Another 53,000 jobs will be lost by 
July 1 if we don't act. Another 128,000 will be lost by fiscal year 
2011 if we don't act.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I'm asking our colleagues to step forward for people 
who need to do work. This summer we are looking at young people not 
having enough jobs, and we need this Congress to act. We've seen job 
creation, we've seen job growth, we've seen 290,000 jobs created last 
month; but this drive needs to stay alive. The Democratic Caucus is 
committed to it. We hope our Republican colleagues join us, but jobs 
must continue to be the first order of business.

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