[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15865]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  JOB LOSSES CONTINUE FOR SIX CONSECUTIVE MONTHS AS ECONOMY GETS WORSE

  (Mr. CLEAVER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, our economy has now lost 430,000 jobs 
this year. The latest employment numbers show 62,000 jobs lost last 
month alone. This only adds to the growing financial insecurity among 
America's middle income families.
  For the past 7 years, this administration has been supporting the 
same old policies that got us into this recession. The 3.8 million 
Americans who continue to struggle to find work in this sluggish 
economy can no longer afford the poisonous policies of the past. They 
can't afford to drive their kids to school because of over $4 a gallon 
in gasoline.
  A Teamster told me at home last weekend that it cost him $1,000 to 
fill his rig. He can't afford to stay in the business. No one can 
afford to buy groceries because the price of milk and bread has soared 
past inflation.
  And while Senator John McCain's chief economic adviser says Americans 
are simply whining about the economy, Democrats believe that we need to 
actually do something.
  Madam Speaker, this new law that we passed 13 weeks ago to help 1.6 
million Americans will help middle class families.

                          ____________________