[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 22647]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

  (Mrs. MALONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, last week we saw new evidence that 
Americans are becoming increasingly pessimistic about this economy. Two 
separate measures of consumer attitudes plunged drastically, posting 
their largest declines in decades.
  The impact of the hurricanes was the immediate cause of pessimism, 
but Americans have never had much confidence in the Bush economy. The 
President has the worst job creation record since Herbert Hoover. 
American workers have been left behind in the economic recovery from 
the 2001 recession.
  For the typical worker and household, wages and incomes are not 
keeping up with the cost of living. The gap between the haves and the 
have-nots continues to grow and I find that tremendously troubling for 
our country. This record does not inspire confidence in our economy. We 
can do better.

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