[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11439-11440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                MAKING AMERICA'S ECONOMIC PROBLEMS WORSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Madam Speaker, May 31 is going to be quite a sad 
day in the history of the United States Congress, but I believe that 
the real tragedy is for 36,500 Ohioans and over 2 million Americans 
whose unemployment benefits will expire on May 31.
  I do not understand how we can look these people in the eye. I think 
it is disgraceful. I think it is shameful. How do we look those 
Americans in the eye who are struggling to feed their kids, who do not 
have work, and we tell them that we have a solution to the problem?
  What is the solution? I do not believe it is adopting the President's 
leave-no-millionaire-behind plan. Ever since this President has taken 
office, we have said we are going to cut taxes. We have a recession, we 
are going to cut taxes; the economy is down, we are going to cut taxes; 
you want to go to war, we are going to cut taxes; if tuition goes up, 
we are going to cut taxes; if health care goes up, we need to cut 
taxes; and if schools are cutting the year short because they cannot 
afford to educate their kids, we are going to cut taxes.
  We hear a lot, Madam Speaker, about compassionate conservatism, when 
it seems the only thing being conserved in the United States Capitol is 
compassion.
  I do not understand what is compassionate for the 8.8 million 
unemployed people in this country. To me, leaving them hanging is 
cruel. I do not understand what is compassionate for the 80,000 workers 
who are exhausting their unemployment benefits every week. To me, Madam 
Speaker, that is cruel. And I do not understand what is compassionate 
for the 360,000 Ohioans who cannot find a job. I think it is cruel. I 
do not think it is compassionate.
  During our country's last major recession, in the early 1990s, 
Congress kept the extended unemployment benefits program in place for 
27 months; 27 months. Earlier this year, we had to beg and plead just 
to get the current program extended to 15 months, and the unemployment 
problem is worse today than it was then.
  I must say, Madam Speaker, what I really have a problem with and what 
I am really not understanding, there was an article today in the 
Washington Post, and it talked about deflation and how the Fed and the 
policy advisers of the Federal Reserve are starting now to worry 
seriously about deflation. They are saying that there are too many 
goods in the marketplace, there is too much labor in the marketplace, 
and the prices are going to be driven down because of the oversupply.

[[Page 11440]]

  There are three job seekers for every job opening. This is one of the 
worst labor markets since the Great Depression, and we have too many 
goods, and we have too many workers, too much supply, and the answer is 
to go back to the supply-side economics of the 1980s.
  We have enough supply. We do not need to cut taxes for the wealthiest 
people. We need demand-side economics, and the greatest stimulus that 
we can give is to extend these unemployment benefits.
  One study says that each dollar spent on unemployment benefits would 
boost the economy by $1.73. We need people to buy products. There are 
enough products trying to be sold. If you cut taxes for the top 1 
percent, they are not going to produce anything, because there are 
enough goods already in the marketplace.
  We need to take care of the 2 million people and the 36,500 Ohioans, 
give the money to them, let them feed their families, let them clothe 
their families, and let them stimulate the economy. We have tried the 
supply-side economics once in the 1980s. It did not work. We ran 
tremendous deficits. We increased the burden on future generations. 
What we need to do is put the money in the pockets of the people who 
need it, average, middle-class Americans.
  Again, Madam Speaker, this is voodoo economics, it is smoke and 
mirrors, it is bait and switch, and it does not work, and I do not 
think we should try it again.



                          ____________________