[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 28162]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, as we prepare this morning to deal with one 
of the most important pieces of legislation, the Department of Defense 
authorization bill conference report, which my friends, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Hunter) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. 
Skelton), will be managing, I would like to take this 1-minute to talk 
about a different issue, and that is the report that we got this 
morning of the improvement in our Nation's unemployment rate.
  We are so gratified that the policies that President Bush has put 
forward are working. We obviously have a long way to go, but based on 
the numbers as they used to exist, a 6 percent unemployment rate, which 
is where we are today, used to be considered full employment. Now, we 
obviously in the last several years have seen it drop to the 4 percent 
level, and we want it to get there.
  But, Mr. Speaker, with the report of a 126,000 increase, nearly 
triple what had been estimated in the payroll numbers, we are on the 
track; and our policies of reducing the tax burden on working Americans 
to encourage economic growth and, yes, Mr. Speaker, our goal of free 
trade, opening up new markets for U.S. goods and services around the 
world and ensuring we have the opportunity for imports to come here, 
are beginning to pay off. Let us make sure that we stay on that track.

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