[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16655]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      THE SUPERCOMMITTEE AND JOBS

  (Mr. HIGGINS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, this week the partisan chairs of the 
previous deficit reduction commissions admonished the supercommittee to 
``go big'' with a package that includes a balance of cuts and revenues. 
Unfortunately, I think they will ``go small,'' and that would be a 
tragic lost opportunity. It would also be a lost opportunity if the 
supercommittee's legislation does not include job-creating measures, 
because the best way to reduce deficits is to create jobs.
  Just ten years ago, the debate in this country was over the 
implications of repaying our debt in its entirety. We had that debate 
because, under President Clinton, 22 million jobs were created and 
record deficits were turned into record surpluses.
  Mr. Speaker, the supercommittee should be bold and include a major 
investment in infrastructure. With interest rates at historic lows, it 
will never be cheaper to finance the massive backlog of improvements 
that we need to make in order to stay competitive.
  Optimistically, economic growth over the next 2 years is not expected 
to be enough to sustain the current employment levels. That means 
unemployment will increase unless we act to create jobs.
  I urge the supercommittee to do the right thing--go big. The American 
people need to work, and much work needs to be done.

                          ____________________