[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 193 (Thursday, December 15, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H8973-H8974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IN GOD WE TRUST, BUT CAN HE TRUST US?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Rangel) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RANGEL. I rise, Madam Speaker, to share with the House the 
importance of extended unemployment insurance, increasing disposable 
income, and to try desperately hard to shatter the myth that some of 
the opponents of extended unemployment have expressed, and this is that 
Americans don't want to work and would prefer to receive a check and 
that receiving this check is a deterrent for them to go out and search 
for jobs.
  I can't believe that this is a Republican doctrine because, outside 
of these Halls, most Americans don't wear on their sleeves whether 
they're Republican or Democrats or liberals or conservatives. Most 
Americans just want to be a part of this wonderful American Dream.
  And while we work in order to have wages, so much a part of having a 
job is self-esteem. That's what our great country is about. Not since 
the Depression have Americans felt so embarrassed because their kids 
are being

[[Page H8974]]

asked questions as to did your daddy and mom lose their job.
  People who thought they made it into the middle class, which is the 
economic heartbeat of this great Nation, moved into communities with 
higher rents or higher expenses in terms of their homes; and then they 
were hit by this economic nightmare. Through no fault of their own, 
they lost their jobs, their homes, their savings, their hope. And they 
are out there, and we are saying that they don't want to work, that 
they enjoy being unemployed?
  You know, this great Nation has the Constitution as its foundation, 
but there's something that's not written there, and that is, if you can 
make your way to America, you can improve, not just your status, but 
the status of your kids and your grandkids.
  Something has happened with this dream as it becomes a nightmare, and 
it has to do with disparity of the income because if you are born into 
poverty, chances of getting out of it in the United States of America 
is far less than in some other countries. That's not us. That's not 
what we believe in.
  And no one is asking for a class war. We're talking about a class in 
understanding the economy of this great Nation. Less than 1 percent of 
Americans own 42 percent of America's wealth. And worse than being 
poor, more Americans who thought they reached the middle class wake up 
each and every day and find out that they're back into poverty.
  Can't we find some way to realize that this is not a party issue, 
that these are the principles of the United States of America?
  Don't we know that these debates that we're having as to who can be 
the meanest and most ridiculous is causing us, as a Nation, to lose the 
principles? And aren't these principles how do we treat the lesser of 
our brothers and sisters in this country? Isn't the question of how we 
treat our children, is that gone out of the window? Our aged, our sick 
and those in poverty?
  Isn't there something when middle class people have to watch the cash 
register when they're paying out at the counter to make certain that 
they didn't pick up more than they can pay for?
  What about having your possessions put in the street for nonpayment 
of rent?
  They're looking for unemployment compensation checks as a way of 
life? They have to explain this?
  No, we have to get back our dignity as a Nation, and it doesn't 
include the gridlock that we have in the House of Representatives. 
Sure, getting elected is important. But fulfilling the American Dream 
is far more important than anything this Nation's based on.
  Yes, God bless America. Yes, in God we trust. Let's hope that God 
trusts us.

                          ____________________