[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16261]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             LAGGING WAGES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 20, 2004, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this weekend, we had more proof that 
middle- and low-income workers are still feeling the economic squeeze 
when it comes to making ends meet. Last Friday, the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics reported that hourly earnings of production workers, non-
management workers ranging from nurses and teachers to assembly-line 
workers, fell 1.1 percent last month. That is the steepest decline 
since the recession of 1991, and makes up the lowest level of weekly 
pay since October 2001.
  While weekly pay is at its lowest levels in over a decade, middle- 
and lower-income workers are feeling the squeeze thanks to ever-
increasing education, health care, and gas prices that are rising at 
rates much higher than the stagnant incomes.
  Let us consider a middle-class nurse in my State of New Jersey whose 
income fell 1.1 percent last month. How can this nurse afford the 
average $2,700 increase in health care premiums that New Jersey 
families face this year? How can this nurse and her family afford the 
$1,600 increase in college tuition costs? How can this nurse afford the 
more than $2,000 increase in child care costs? These increases would be 
difficult to keep up with if the nurse was actually receiving cost of 
living raises, however, it is impossible to meet with rising costs when 
you are actually seeing a cut in pay.
  There is no doubt it is becoming more and more difficult for these 
middle-class families to make ends meet. You would think this 
disappointing news would concern President Bush. After all, he already 
has the dubious distinction as the only President since Herbert Hoover 
to lose jobs on his watch--1.8 million private sector jobs have been 
lost over the last 3 years thanks to the economic neglect of President 
Bush and Republicans here in Congress.
  Instead of showing any concern, the President has said that our 
economy does not need boom or bust type growth. The President ought to 
tell that to the millions of families around America that are 
struggling to make ends meet.
  The economic record of President Bush and the Republican House of 
Representatives has been an utter failure, and the President's 
statement that an economic boom is not needed today shows he is clearly 
out of touch by the economic realities middle-class Americans presently 
face.
  You do not have to take my word for it, Mr. Speaker, two members of 
the President's own party have voiced concern about the economy and the 
President's inability over the last 3 years to ease the economic 
concerns of both the unemployed and the middle class. Last week, 
Senator Voinovich from Ohio signaled his frustration with the Bush 
administration when he stated, and I want you to keep in mind this is a 
Republican Senator from Ohio I am quoting, ``Despite these overwhelming 
problems facing our Nation's manufacturers, I must say I have yet to 
see any significant action on behalf of the Bush administration to 
respond.''
  Now, that is a member of the President's own party admitting that the 
administration has not properly responded to the economic hardships 
many Americans now face. And, last week, another Republican Senator 
said the President's economists gave him bad advice on the impact his 
tax cuts would have on the economy.
  I am quoting Charles Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate 
committee that writes all the tax laws. He said, ``U.S. President Bush 
should have been more skeptical about economic predictions regarding 
jobs created by tax cuts totaling $1.7 trillion over 10 years.'' 
Grassley continues: ``His economists screwed up and Bush was not right 
in not questioning his economists.''
  Now, again, that is a Republican Senator admitting that the tax cuts 
President Bush and Congressional Republicans have been touting as the 
answer to our Nation's economic problems will not actually create jobs 
or help middle-class families.
  It is nice that some within the Republican Party are finally 
realizing that their tax cuts for the wealthiest have not trickled down 
to the middle class. Maybe these statements from Republican senators 
will serve as a wake-up call not only to President Bush but also to 
Republican leaders in Congress that our Nation needs a real economic 
stimulus plan.
  You cannot actually fix a problem until you admit a problem. And, 
unfortunately, President Bush is still in denial that the economy needs 
fixing.

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