[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 22]
[House]
[Pages 29896-29897]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          RETURN TO JOB GROWTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, in our ongoing efforts to 
stabilize the economy and ensure a return to prosperity, our focus must 
remain fixed on the saving and creation of American jobs. The actions 
of this administration and this Congress have shown progress. Job 
losses fell dramatically, and the unemployment rate dropped in November 
from 10.2 percent to 10 percent.
  The recession began in 2007 and has been the worst since World War 
II. Unemployment hit a 26-year high, consumer confidence plummeted, the 
gross domestic product contracted at near unprecedented levels, the 
stock market plunged, home prices tumbled and foreclosures skyrocketed, 
and millions of Americans found themselves out of work.
  Monthly job losses continued to worsen each month. In September of 
2008, the monthly losses were more than 300,000. By December of 2008 
and January of 2009, in the waning days of the Bush administration, job 
losses exceeded 700,000. And it wasn't just 2008. Under the Clinton 
administration, from 1993 to 2000 the average monthly private job 
growth was 217,000, one of the most robust job growths in American 
history. During the Bush 8 years, that average monthly job creation was 
just 2,000.

                              {time}  1700

  As this Congress and the Obama administration took office in January, 
we were facing a job market in free fall. We immediately took action on 
a number of fronts.
  The Recovery Act provided critically important investments, saving or 
creating 1.6 million jobs so far. States and localities faced with 
growing budget deficits would have been forced to lay off hundreds of 
thousands of teachers, police and fire fighters, but the Recovery Act 
saved those jobs, including, in my district, 404 teachers in Fairfax 
County and 304 in Prince William County. The Recovery Act created 
thousands of additional jobs in road construction, clean energy, and 
medical research. Businesses in my district received at least 205 
contracts, grants, and loans, totaling almost $200 million, thanks to 
the Recovery Act. They have had a noticeable impact.
  The employment rate in my district began to fall in advance of the 
national rate, declining in October from 5.3 to 5.2 percent in Prince 
William County, and from 4.7 to 4.5 percent in Fairfax, half the 
national average.
  The House of Representatives reauthorized the COPS program, which 
will add 50,000 police officers nationwide. The 21st Century Green 
Schools Act and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act invested 
billions of more dollars to modernize public schools and community 
college campuses, creating tens of thousands of new construction jobs. 
The American Clean Energy and Security Act creates incentives for new 
research and development, creating thousands of new job opportunities 
related to the production of advanced batteries, wind turbines, solar 
power, and other sustainable technologies. In addition, Madam Speaker, 
we passed a number of bills to spur small business job creation through 
tax incentives and employment opportunities for our veterans.
  Ultimately, for sustainable job growth, the private sector must feel 
comfortable to return to hiring employees. Large companies will not 
expand while the value of their firm drops. Small companies will not 
expand while the owners' assets are disappearing. And those assets did 
drop. From its high of over 14,000 in October of 2007, the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average began a precipitous decline to just

[[Page 29897]]

over 6,600 in March of this year. Since then, thanks to our actions, 
the market has recovered more than 50 percent.
  Companies will not expand while consumer confidence declines, and it 
did decline to 25 points in February of this year, the lowest level 
since the conference board's inception in 1967. Since then, thanks 
again to our actions, consumer confidence has continued to improve, 
hitting 48.7 in October, almost doubling.
  Companies will not expand, Madam Speaker, while the national economy 
is contracting, and it did indeed contract, starting in the third 
quarter of 2008. It declined an astounding 6.3 percent in the fourth 
quarter and 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2009, but our actions 
have helped. GDP increased 2.8 percent in the third quarter of 2009 and 
continues to grow this quarter as well.
  This February, the horrific pace of job losses began to ease. Job 
losses in May fell to 300,000. In August through October, they averaged 
135,000 a month. In November, just 11,000 jobs, net, were lost in the 
American economy, continuing to contribute to the decline in the 
unemployment rate.
  Madam Speaker, we're not out of the woods just yet. Millions of 
Americans are still out of work. But we've started to turn the economy 
around. We've begun to stabilize the stock market, the housing sector, 
and the GDP. Madam Speaker, we've begun to create conditions for job 
growth, and now we must partner with the private sector to ensure that 
millions of Americans can return to work.

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