[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10101]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           ARE WE BETTER OFF TODAY THAN WE WERE 4 YEARS AGO?

  (Mr. ROSS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROSS. Mr. Speaker, are we better off today than we were 4 years 
ago? Let us look at the facts.
  Three years ago, our country was thriving. We were running on a $236 
billion budget surplus and 22 million jobs were created between 1992 
and 2000. However, today 9 million Americans are out of work and 44 
million Americans are without health insurance. Gas prices are at a 23-
year high, and household income has decreased by almost $1,500. We have 
the largest budget deficit ever for the second year in a row in our 
Nation's history. Our government spends $900,000 more a minute than it 
takes in, and it borrows $1.1 billion a day. Corporate profits are up, 
but wages for working families are down. It is the most anemic growth 
since World War II.
  So are we better off today than we were 4 years ago? I think it is 
easy to see the answer is clearly ``no.''

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