[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 24741]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      PRESIDENTS REAGAN AND OBAMA

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I've listened to 1 minutes here, and some of 
my Republican colleagues have made comments I listened to. And one who 
I respect tremendously talked about President Reagan and President 
Obama, and certainly they have a lot in common. They're both dynamic 
speakers and great communicators. Both of them have had high 
unemployment rates during their first year in office.
  But the commonality is that those high unemployment rates were caused 
by their predecessors. And the press properly pointed out that Jimmy 
Carter's failed policies in the late 1970s and George Bush's failed 
policy at the beginning of this century were the cause of the economic 
malaise that each of these great communicators, Presidents Reagan and 
Obama, found themselves with.
  Each will find that the economies will improve. Reagan did, and Obama 
will, and this Congress is helping to improve this economy.
  Another gentleman talked about health care and said we should pray. 
I'm Jewish, and at our Yom Kippur holiday it's said that we should pray 
for national leaders that have a government that is compassionate and 
just. I believe that compassion and justice dictates that we have a 
health care plan and take care of everybody. I think it's the basis of 
the Judeo-Christian philosophy.

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