[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24287]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                OVERTIME

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, in today's New York Times we learned about 
Trudy LeBlue, an employee of a hair salon outside of New Orleans. Ms. 
LeBlue's story is like that of many hard-working Americans. While she 
struggles to make ends meet, her employer forces her to work off the 
clock just to avoid paying overtime.
  Across this country American families are working toward a better 
life, yet find their climb getting tougher. Just this week we learned 
wholesale inflation is up 1.7 percent last month alone, the sharpest 
monthly increase in 15 years. Since 2001 health care costs are up by a 
third, college tuition costs up by 32 percent, personal bankruptcies up 
by 38 percent.
  But what is the Congress doing to reduce the burdens on American 
families? A tax policy that has shifted the burden onto working 
families off of wealth, failed to pass a higher education legislation, 
failed to pass legislation on comprehensive health care or on energy 
policy. And just last night alone we voted to increase our Nation's 
debt to $8 trillion, a 40 percent increase in the past 4 years. This 
vote was a fitting end to this Congress's record on the economy and 
what it has done for working families. Rather than making the right 
choices, we pass the buck.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people look to the Congress to solve their 
problems, not add to them. Yet more than often than not, the 108th 
Congress has chosen to pass our responsibilities on to future 
generations. Mr. Speaker, passing the buck is not leadership. It is a 
Ponzi scheme.

                          ____________________