[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 143 (Friday, September 23, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H6418]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PRESIDENT'S JOBS PLAN

  (Mr. WELCH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELCH. We have two problems in this economy: One is, we have a 
long-term deficit that requires long-term solutions. Second, we have an 
immediate crisis of high unemployment. We have 23 million Americans who 
are out of work full time or out of work part time, people looking for 
full-time work that don't have it--23 million Americans. Why can't we 
focus on policies that are going to put people back to work? The 
President's jobs plan will help us to do that.
  What does it do? We start to invest in infrastructure. It is 
disgraceful that the roads and bridges of this country, that the water 
and sewer systems in your town and mine are ancient and antiquated. 
They need repair. They need rebuilding. That is not just money thrown 
out the door. That's investing in our future where generations are 
going to benefit from it.
  Part of the solution is rebuilding our schools. Who among us has not 
been to a school in our neighborhood or our district that is in 
desperate need of repair? And we have folks in the construction 
industry who aren't building houses because of the housing crisis but 
can be rebuilding these schools and can be retrofitting our homes.
  We have to focus on putting people back to work.

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