[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26993]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Stearns) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, last week brought the American taxpayers 
some good news. Whether it was in the USA Today newspaper, Associated 
Press stories, the New York Times or the Washington Post, they all said 
pretty much the same thing. The U.S. economy grew at a rapid pace of 
7.2 percent during the third quarter of this year.

                              {time}  1245

  Mr. Speaker, this is an accomplishment that has not been seen in 19 
years, or since 1984, when Ronald Reagan was President of the United 
States. Most economic analysts were expecting just a 6 percent gain. In 
addition, the growth rate accelerated from a 3.3 percent rate in the 
second quarter. This must come as quite a surprise to those who have 
been hoping for bad economic news.
  I would like to greet the economic detractors with even more positive 
news: the value of U.S. stock markets has increased with shareholder 
wealth up $2.9 trillion, an increase of 22 percent since October 2002; 
and the 10,000 mark in the Dow Jones is well within reach. Disposable 
income is up 5.8 percent at an annual rate in 2003.
  This is very interesting. U.S. homeownership in the United States was 
68.4 percent in the third quarter. Now this is the highest level it has 
ever been.
  Productivity growth remains strong, which has bolstered business 
profits. Orders of manufacturing goods have been increasing since 
earlier this year, and shipments of durable goods have increased since 
this summer after, of course, a period of decline and stagnation.
  Consumer confidence has increased and consumer spending has increased 
on food and clothes by 7.9 percent, and this is the best increase since 
1976.
  Business spending on equipment and business software has increased 
15.4 percent, the largest increase since 2001.
  Mr. Speaker, these economic facts are evidence that what President 
Bush proposed and Congress passed was right in passing the Jobs Growth 
and Tax Relief package, that is, the tax cuts. It has given the economy 
the shot it needed from the recession that started at the end of the 
Clinton administration; and with higher economic activity, American 
workers obtain better wages and living standards.
  While this significant growth is encouraging, we must strive to 
ensure that our economy continues on this positive track. Of course, we 
cannot logically expect that the economy will continue to grow at this 
rate as it did in the third quarter, but most private forecasters 
predict the economy will be above the historical average.
  Of course, one thing a good economy must do is create jobs; 57,000 
new jobs were created in September, the first gain in nonfarm payroll 
employment since January. This is positive news, and we are seeing 
signs that the labor market is improving. Initial claims for 
unemployment insurance have declined by more than 10 percent, and the 
4-week moving average has stayed below 400,000 claims for 4 straight 
weeks.
  As the economy has recovered, the U.S. has become more productive. 
With higher productivity, fewer people are needed to do the same job. 
Because of this, there has not been a corresponding job increase in the 
national economic growth.
  Of course, I think there is more we need to do to continue these 
progrowth policies. I would offer one caveat this afternoon. Part of a 
progrowth economic policy is to reduce spending. Federal Government 
spending increased by 1.4 percent in the third quarter alone. Over the 
past 5 years, the government has increased spending by $586 billion. 
Spending is now just over 20 percent of the gross domestic product. If 
we continue to follow an alarming increase in Federal spending, the 
government will be faced with more and more difficult choices, none of 
which will help our economic recovery and economic growth.
  We have a healthy economy to look forward to today. Let us keep it 
that way. Let us control government spending.

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