[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20733]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, while the President and his Republican 
colleagues continue to focus their attention on foreign policy, they 
regretfully leave behind a very important issue, one that affects 
millions of families across the country; that is, the economy. In the 
past 2 years 1.6 million people have lost their jobs, and 1.4 million 
more people lost their health care insurance last year alone. Americans 
have lost over $4.5 million in the stock market since this President 
took office.
  The massive Republican tax cut passed last year was supposed to help 
working families. It actually left us in a major recession.
  We need to increase the minimum wage. We need to extend unemployment 
insurance for the hardest-working people in our country that lost their 
jobs because of this recession. Unemployment is at 5.5, and among 
Hispanics in our country it is a staggering 7.4 percent. In my district 
alone it is 10 percent.
  This problem is real, and it is serious. We need to get to work on 
it. I ask Congress and the President to stop ignoring this issue and to 
come up with an economic stimulus plan for working families.

                          ____________________