[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 11973-11974]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 AMERICAN FAMILIES ARE PAYING THE PRICE

  (Mr. ARCURI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ARCURI. Madam Speaker, today American families are paying the 
price for 7 years of failed economic policies by this administration. 
This year alone, our economy has lost more than 300,000 jobs. It's 
important to remember that in order to just keep up with the population 
growth, our economy must create at least 150,000 jobs per month.

[[Page 11974]]

  These statistics are devastating to millions of unemployed Americans 
who are increasingly competing against each other for the very few jobs 
that have become available. Yet President Bush continues to sit on the 
sidelines hoping that the economic situation will correct itself 
without additional governmental intervention.
  The Democratic House believes the government must act, and it must 
act now. That's why we passed legislation last month that would extend 
unemployment insurance to workers who have exhausted their benefits. We 
also plan to move a second economic stimulus package that should help 
create jobs. I hope both President Bush and congressional Republicans 
would finally realize that this is the right thing to do.

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