[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21051]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 FAILING ECONOMIC HEALTH OF OUR NATION

  (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, as Americans head to the polls in 4 weeks, we 
should ask ourselves, Are we better off now than we were 4 years ago?
  The answer lies in the facts, and the facts do not lie. Eight million 
people are looking for work and 1.4 million people lost their health 
insurance last year; 4.3 million people have slipped into poverty since 
President Bush took office, and a projected 10-year $5.6 trillion 
budget surplus has turned into a $422 billion annual deficit.
  Families in my district are all too aware of the sad state of our 
economy. Unemployment they say is at its lowest at 5.4 percent; but 
unemployment in my district, in East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel 
Valley in Los Angeles County, is well above the norm. Just look at the 
schedule here. East Los Angeles, South El Monte, 9.8 percent, double-
digit unemployment and it has been that way for the last 3\1/2\ years.
  We know in my district that it is time for a change in leadership. We 
want jobs here. We want investments in America. We want to lift those 
boats.

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