[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 168 (Friday, November 4, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H7390-H7393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           JOBS, JOBS, JOBS WILL RESTORE FAITH IN GOVERNMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Buerkle). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Jackson) is 
recognized for 30 minutes.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Madam Speaker, tonight I want to speak on 
the subject jobs, jobs, jobs. Jobs will restore faith in government. 
Invest, build and grow.
  One does not have to be a Christian to understand or believe what the 
Bible says about three critical things that are important to living our 
lives: faith, hope, and love. Today I want to connect the idea of faith 
to faith in government. Hebrews 11.1 says, ``Now faith is the substance 
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.''
  What are some of those things that are hoped for and not seen? When 
we drive a car, we have faith that when our light turns green and we 
go, the person driving the car in the other direction will obey the 
light when it turns red and stop. When we stop for a red light, we have 
faith that the car behind us will also stop and not ram us in the rear. 
We have faith that the pedestrians will obey the yield sign and not run 
out in front of our moving car. We have faith that if a driver turns on 
the right hand turn signal, they will not suddenly turn left in front 
of us. We have faith that other drivers will not recklessly endanger 
our lives by driving drunk. So whether driving to work or to play, it 
is faith that allows us to drive. And if another person runs a stop 
light, doesn't brake behind us, doesn't obey the yield sign, suddenly 
turns in front of us or drives drunk, they have broken the faith. In 
other words, when you're driving, the only thing that stands between 
you and death is faith.
  If you fly on airplanes, you have faith. You have faith in a pilot 
that you've never met--that they're well trained, that they know how to 
take off and land, can handle a storm in the air, can handle an 
emergency, are physically fit, psychologically stable, and not drunk or 
on drugs. You have faith in the flight attendants that they've been 
trained to handle unruly passengers or an emergency situation. You have 
faith that the maintenance people have properly serviced the plane 
before it takes off. You have faith that the TSA employees have done 
their job and have not made an error that will put your life or the 
life of passengers in danger. You have a reasonable faith in the 
regulations of the FAA that the fuel, the engines, the body of the 
plane, and the runways are safe. A critical error anywhere along this 
line will damage and destroy your faith in air travel.
  Train engineers have faith that drivers and pedestrians will not 
drive or walk around railroad crossing gates and endanger themselves or 
the train. Bus passengers have faith that the driver is not 
intoxicated, on drugs, or experiencing emotional problems that can 
endanger the public or their riders.
  Look, Madam Speaker, how faith operates during medical emergencies. 
When we're at our weakest and suddenly become ill and need to be rushed 
to the hospital. We have faith that a well-trained ambulance and 
emergency medical technician will arrive quickly and provide us with 
care. We have faith that drivers on the road will pull over when they 
hear the sirens to allow our ambulance driver to get us quickly and 
safely to the hospital. We have faith in the doctors, the nurses, and 
the medical staff that they will provide us with the highest quality of 
care possible regardless of our perceived ability to pay or whether we 
have medical insurance.
  Without the faith that our judicial system has laws that are 
rationally and morally sound and faith that our judges will conduct 
themselves in a respectful and fair way toward prosecutors and 
defendants, we cannot have a justice system that endures.
  Earlier last month, I spent the day with the Johnson-Karlock family 
outside of Momence, Illinois, during their family's harvest season. As 
we were sitting down for lunch, Mr. Johnson led us in a short prayer to 
thank God for

[[Page H7391]]

the successful season's harvest. Through his prayer, I quickly learned 
how many factors a farmer has to rely on for a good harvest year. When 
I pray over my family's dinner, it's always ``God is good, God is 
great, thank you for the food that I'm about to receive for the 
nourishment of my body, for Christ's sake, Amen.'' And then my family 
sits down and eats.
  But when I heard from Mr. Johnson's prayer, there must have been a 
dozen unseen factors on his mind that small family farmers depend on 
for their way of life. He expressed gratitude for the sun, gratitude 
for the rain, gratitude for the soil, and gratitude for the harvest. He 
prayed for protection against things that can destroy his crop and 
support for his equipment. His prayer was a mighty different prayer 
from the prayer that I normally pray over my food.
  But the Johnsons and other small family farmers also believe in the 
Federal Government. If something bad does happen in a season, the 
Federal Government is there to provide crop insurance and disaster 
insurance to get them through tough times. They rely on the Federal 
Government to provide research that enhances production and yield and 
genetic engineering of the crop and seed breeding.

                              {time}  1550

  They have faith in their government that their government will be 
there in their time of need.
  It doesn't matter whether you're a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew, a 
Buddhist, a Hindu, agnostic or atheist. It is impossible to live 
without faith. Our auto industry almost collapsed; so we can only have 
so much faith in General Motors and Chrysler and Ford. Our financial 
system did partially collapse; so we can only have so much faith in our 
banks, lenders, and investors. We can only have limited faith in the 
private sector because it has $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion sitting on 
the sideline, money that it refuses to invest in jobs and in the 
American people. And if Congress passed and the States ratified a 
balanced budget amendment, it would mean that the Federal Government 
could never meet the American people's needs or correct gaps among our 
people that need to be corrected, and we would lose faith in our 
government.
  We need to have faith in the Federal Government--which is supposed to 
be a government of, by, and for the people--but we can only have such 
faith if it meets our people's current needs. Without such faith and 
deliverance by our Federal Government, we cannot survive as a Nation.
  What is the greatest need of the American people today that a 
government of, for, and by the people should respond to? Jobs. The 
problem with this dysfunctional Congress is that it is not keeping the 
faith with the American people by providing them with their greatest 
need--jobs.
  Every Member of Congress takes the following oath: ``I do solemnly 
swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the 
United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.'' When we take 
that oath but leave 25 million people either unemployed or 
underemployed, internally we are creating potential domestic enemies.
  I think I have demonstrated that all of us have faith. Men cannot 
live by bread alone, and we couldn't live if we didn't have faith. But 
to have faith in a government means that a government that is actually 
of, by, and for the people must be responsive to the people's needs. So 
when Congress or Members of Congress say--through words or deeds or 
actions or inaction--that the Federal Government can't help, it 
destroys the American people's faith in their government.
  The greatest material need of the American people today is jobs, 
jobs, jobs. The greatest need of the American economy today is 
aggregate demand. The most effective and efficient way to meet the need 
for jobs and aggregate demand--in the spirit of FDR--is for the Federal 
Government to directly hire workers to do the work that needs to be 
done. The result of the Federal Government investing, building and 
growing the economy and creating full employment will be the 
restoration of faith in government.
  For the last 30 years we've been bombarded with Ronald Reagan's 
conservative negative government rhetoric: ``Government is not the 
solution to our problem; government is the problem.'' That's an 
interesting phrase. How can a government of, by, and for the people be 
the problem? Logically, it says either we don't have a government of, 
by, and for the people, or that people are the problem. So the first 
thing we must do to counter this negative Reagan propaganda is to have 
the Federal Government do positive things to restore the American 
people's faith in government and in themselves.
  Among the many things that the addition of the 13th, 14th and 15th 
Amendments to the Constitution did during the First Reconstruction 
after the American Civil War was to help to restore people's faith in 
the Federal Government's capacity to solve a problem.
  In taking over Herbert Hoover's mess of conservative economics--
complacency, limited Federal action and inaction--the first thing that 
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal did--by the closing of banks to 
stop the run on currency and gold; Social Security for the aged; 
regulation of investment by the SEC; agricultural assistance to needy 
farmers; the Wagner Act that benefited working men and women; the 
Civilian Conservation Corps, the CCC; and the Works Progress 
Administration, the WPA, that put people back to work--was to restore 
faith in the Federal Government.
  Lyndon Johnson's Great Society--whose war on poverty worked and 
reduced poverty, Medicare for the elderly, Medicaid for the poor, 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act for students, the 1964 Public 
Accommodations Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act for African 
Americans--for most Americans restored faith in the Federal Government.
  Today, in order to restore the American people's faith in government, 
the Federal Government must jump-start the private economy by ``priming 
the pump'' and creating jobs. What do we need to do? Madam Speaker, we 
should move the money: jobs, not cuts; tax the rich; stop the wars; 
bring home our troops. What does move the money mean? It means we need 
to create a second economic stimulus, not because the first one 
failed--it worked, it stopped us from going into the abyss--but because 
the hole was deeper than we originally thought, we need a second 
stimulus.
  My conservative colleagues in both parties are like the man whose 
house caught on fire and he tried to put it out with his garden hose 
and it didn't work. You know what he concluded? He concluded that water 
does not put out fires. But that was the wrong conclusion. He should 
have concluded that he needed more water and a bigger hose.
  President Obama's original stimulus has given us 20 months of private 
jobs growth, but we need more to get us back on track. We need the 
President's American Jobs Act; we need Jan Schakowsky's Emergency Jobs 
to Restore the American Dream Act; and we need the plan that I'm 
putting together, the Invest, Build, Grow and Full Employment Act.
  In March of 2009, Congress passed the first economic stimulus, which 
included $757 billion intended to save or create 2 million to 2.5 
million jobs over 2 years. It succeeded, but it wasn't enough.
  In December 2010, Congress passed an $858 billion bill extending the 
Bush-era tax cuts, which is expected to create 3 million jobs over the 
next 2 years. It may, but it's not enough. That's $1.6 trillion over 4 
years that we've invested in create 5 million to 5.5 million jobs and 
will probably succeed, but it's not enough. We need a plan that fits 
the size of the problem. We need something more and something more 
efficient and effective to put 15 million Americans back to work.
  Tax cuts are the worst and most inefficient way to create jobs. By 
congressional standards, $900 billion is not a lot of money, especially 
when it's used to jump-start the $15 trillion gross domestic product 
that is the American economy. If we can afford $712 billion to fight a 
war abroad in Iraq, we can afford $900 billion to put Americans back to 
work right here at home. We can move the money from those who can 
afford to give more to those who need it, and not hurt anyone. That's 
how we keep the faith.
  We need to do what FDR did during the Great Depression--have the 
Federal Government directly hire workers. ``In times of economic 
crisis, government has a crucial important role to

[[Page H7392]]

play. People matter and results count. And we don't need to go too far 
back in our history to find examples,'' said Michael Hilzik, the 
Pulitzer prize-winning author and L.A. Times reporter who explored this 
issue in his latest book, ``The New Deal: A Modern History.''
  For those of my conservative colleagues in both parties who say the 
government can't and doesn't create jobs, he writes: ``The WPA produced 
1,000 miles of new and rebuilt airport runways, 651,000 miles of 
highway, 124,000 bridges, 8,000 parks, 18,000 playgrounds and athletic 
fields, some 84,000 miles of drainage pipes, 69,000 highway light 
standards, and 125,000 public buildings built, rebuilt or expanded. 
Among the latter were 41,300 schools. The transformative power of this 
effort is inestimable.''
  FDR, using the Federal Government, directly created jobs because it 
took jobs to do all of that. FDR invested in and built up an entire 
region with the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Public Works 
Administration built the Grand Coulee Dam in the State of Washington 
and put 8,000 men to work, starting in 1933, using materials from 46 
States.

                              {time}  1600

  In southern California, the PWA helped repair or replace 536 school 
buildings damaged or destroyed by the great Long Beach earthquake March 
10, 1933.
  In Florida, the PWA built the Overseas Highway, 127 miles of 
causeways and bridges connecting the mainland and Key West, and 
transformed the island into one of America's premiere tourist 
attractions.
  In New York City, the PWA built the Triborough Bridge that connected 
three of the City's five boroughs, and it funded the building of 
LaGuardia Airport.
  Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is located in the Black Canyon 
of Colorado River on the border between Arizona and Nevada. It was 
constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression, and in 
July 1934, it employed over 5,000 workers building the dam.
  And in my home city of Chicago, the Lake Shore Drive Bridge was 
started in 1929, but the Great Depression prevented its completion 
until the WPA delivered funds in the mid-1930s. When completed in 1937, 
the bridge was 356 feet long and 100 feet wide, making it the world's 
longest and widest bascule bridge, a movable or draw bridge, a type of 
bridge that was developed and perfected in Chicago and used for many of 
its river crossings.
  So we already have an economic model. The CCC, the WPA, the PWA, and 
FDR's New Deal. If we just had, Madam Speaker, the political will. The 
first phase of an overall 6-year $2.2 trillion proposal, we can take 
$600 billion, jump-start this economy by hiring 15 million workers at 
an average annual salary of $40,000. Some will make $20,000, some 
$60,000, depending on the job, to invest in America.
  This project will rebuild our infrastructure, put Americans back to 
work, and create aggregate demand, the greatest need of this economy. 
And the aggregate demand will bring the $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion in 
private money sitting on the sidelines back into the game. The 
investment of private money will create even more jobs, and all of 
these workers will be paying taxes.
  The number of Americans dependent on the Federal Government for 
unemployment compensation and food stamps will be reduced, which will 
help lower the deficit and debt faster than any current proposal.
  The American Society of Civil Engineers has proposed a similar 5-
year, $2.2 trillion plan to build and rebuild America's infrastructure 
for the future.
  In 2011, according to the National Association of State Budget 
Officers, States have a combined debt of almost $200 billion. The 
Federal Government should bail them out and give Democratic and 
Republican governors and State legislatures a clean economic slate.
  Our cities and counties are in debt. Set aside another $100 billion 
to bail out most, if not all of them, and give Democratic and 
Republican county presidents and commissioners, mayors, and city 
councils a clean economic slate: $700 million in Chicago; $48 million 
in the District of Columbia, for example.
  So for a mere $900 billion, which is slightly more than each of the 
last two stimulus packages, we can bail out all States, most, if not 
all of the counties and cities, and put 15 million Americans back to 
work. The only thing that we lack in this Congress is the political 
will.
  So I, again, say we need to restore people's faith. Move the money. 
Jobs, not cuts. Tax the rich. Stop the wars. And bring our troops home.
  Robert Reich, in his latest book, ``Aftershock,'' argues that the 
central challenge at the heart of America's ongoing economic 
predicament is, and I quote, ``not to rebalance the global economy so 
that Americans save more and borrow less from the rest of the world, it 
is to rebalance the American economy so that its benefits are shared 
more widely within America.'' In other words, America's jobs and 
aggregate demand problems cannot be solved with the current 
maldistribution of income and wealth which is at the heart of our 
economic problems.
  What am I talking about?
  According to the most recent nonpartisan CBO report, and again, I 
quote directly, ``The top 1 percent of earners more than doubled their 
share of the Nation's income over the last three decades. In addition, 
government policy has become less redistributive since the late 1970s, 
doing less to reduce the concentration of income. The equalizing effect 
of Federal taxes was smaller in 2007 than in 1979, as the composition 
of Federal revenues shifted away from progressive income taxes to less-
progressive payroll taxes.
  ``Also, Federal benefit payments are doing less to even out the 
distribution of income as a growing share of benefits, like Social 
Security, goes to the older Americans and regardless of their income.
  ``From 1979 to 2007, the average inflation-adjusted after-tax income 
grew by 275 percent for the 1 percent of the population with the 
highest income. For others in the top 20 percent of the population, 
average real estate tax household income grew by 65 percent.
  ``By contrast, for the poorest fifth of the population, average real 
after-tax household income rose only 18 percent. And for the three-
fifths of the people in the middle of the income scale, the growth in 
such household income was just under 40 percent.''
  In other words, the ``class warfare'' that Republicans have been 
reacting to and complaining about is exactly the opposite of what they 
say it is. It hasn't been class warfare by the poor and the middle 
class against the rich. The middle class and the poor are not jealous 
of the rich, and they're especially not jealous of those who are part 
of the ``greedy rich.''
  The middle class and the poor have not been attacking the real job 
creators. Yes, they're opposed to giving more tax breaks, as 
Republicans want to do to the so-called job creators who already have 
$2 trillion to $2.5 trillion sitting idle on the sideline and who've 
not used that money to create jobs.
  But make no mistake about it. There is class warfare going on. The 
nonpartisan CBO just documented that it's been class warfare by the 
rich against the middle class and the poor. That's what's really 
happening.
  We live, Madam Speaker, in a representative democracy. Democracy is a 
government of, by, and for the people. A government of, by, and for the 
people will be responsive and meet the material needs of its people and 
its people's economy.
  We don't really have an economic problem, at least one that we can't 
solve. Again, we have a political problem with my conservative 
colleagues in both parties in this Congress.
  We have a problem of the American people not demanding that their 
Federal Government meet their need for jobs and the resulting economic 
aggregate demand.
  The people of Occupy Wall Street, Occupy LaSalle Street, Occupy 
Oakland, and the other 99 percent movements that are springing up and 
becoming active around this country and around the world are beginning 
to demand that democratic governments everywhere address the existing 
economic inequality and be responsive to their need for meaningful jobs 
at meaningful wages.
  In 2010, the Tea Party movement became politically active and moved 
Congress in a more conservative direction.

[[Page H7393]]

If the ``Occupy'' movements are to bring about real change, they must 
become politically active in 2012 and beyond. They need to move 
Congress in a more progressive direction, a direction that fits their 
needs.
  Just like the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement pressured 
moderate Republicans to stiffen their backs on conservative things 
Republicans say they believe in, so too the Occupy movements must 
pressure Democrats to stiffen their backs on the liberal things that 
Democrats say they believe in.
  Madam Speaker, we already know that my conservative colleagues in 
both parties believe in States' rights and deregulation, which will 
allow the private economy and market forces to wreak havoc on the 
economy and most Americans like it did in the first decade of the 21st 
century.
  Madam Speaker, we already know conservatives in both parties believe 
in trickle down economics that never trickle down but always flood up.
  Madam Speaker, we already know the consequences to the economy, 
workers, and society of laissez faire policies, bank crises that 
threaten and bring about even great depressions, failed corporations, 
disastrous home foreclosure crises, high unemployment, and corrupt 
politics.
  Madam Speaker, we already know what conservatives on both sides of 
the aisle bring us. But will progressive Democrats advocate for 
bringing the American people anything better?

                              {time}  1610

  So I want to challenge myself and my progressive Democratic 
colleagues to do more. We say we care about the poor. Well, let's give 
the poor some bootstraps so they can lift themselves up. We say we care 
about the working class. Well, let's advocate for a solution that fits 
the size of the problem and create enough jobs to employ the American 
people who are unemployed and put all Americans to work--not by 2017, 
not by 2018, but by the end of the month.
  Try missing a bill for 4 or 5 or 6 years. Only Washington could 
conclude that an unemployed or underemployed person has until 2018 to 
worry about bringing down unemployment numbers.
  We say we want more home ownership. Well, let's propose meaningful 
solutions to address the housing foreclosure crisis. We say we're for 
the middle class. Let's advocate for policies that will restore the 
middle class's previous standard of living. We say we support students. 
Well, let's help them reduce their college debts. We say we support 
small businesses. Let's advocate for policies that will help small 
businesses grow and enable them to hire more workers.
  We need to stand with family farmers like the Johnsons in my new 
congressional district and against agribusiness when they threaten to 
drive the Johnsons out of business.
  So I say, Madam Speaker, in conclusion, let's put America back to 
work. Enough of the games. Invest in America. Rebuild America. Grow the 
American economy, end the housing foreclosure crisis and restore the 
American Dream. Enable college students to go back to school. Retrain 
our workers. Save our children. Save our family farms. Rebuild our 
bridges, our ports, our sewers, and our water systems. Build high-speed 
rail, public transportation, ports, levees, and new airports. Invest in 
alternative energy sources--wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal.
  We can do better. Register and vote for politicians who will better 
represent the real economic interests of the American people. We can 
act. We can change things. We can restore faith in government and the 
private sector for the American people.
  We must invest, build, and grow to accomplish full employment.
  We must do better, Madam Speaker. We must put the American people to 
work. And most importantly, we must honor our highest obligation as 
Members of this institution, and that is to restore the American 
people's faith in the capacity of their government to bring about 
change positively in their lives.
  I thank the Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________