[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H5737-H5738]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TENNESSEANS FRUSTRATED WITH CONGRESS
(Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, my home State of Tennessee has an
employment rate of over 10 percent. The Tennesseans that I know are
very frustrated with Washington. They've lost faith that this Chamber
can or will do anything meaningful about jobs this year. They look at
Washington and see us living out that maxim: if at first you don't
succeed, spend and spend again. They look at us and they said where are
the jobs.
Now Tennessee's Governor and State legislature have made some very
different choices. Instead of expanding the size of government, they
scaled it back. Instead of increasing taxes, they've offered incentives
for investment. Many in this Chamber say those are policies of the
past. Well, in Tennessee, those choices have worked. They attracted
over $4 billion of investment in the past 18 months. It is investment
that creates sustainable growth and good, solid paying jobs.
By contrast, the stimulus program we hear so much about in this
Chamber has sent just over $1 billion to the State of Tennessee. At 10
percent unemployment, what do Tennesseans
[[Page H5738]]
have to show for those stimulus jobs? No jobs and a lot of expensive
road signs.
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