[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 18419-18420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS TOO HIGH AND GLOBAL MARKETS SHOWING SIGNS OF 
                              INSTABILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, the economy received an early 
holiday gift this past week when Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping 
figures outperformed expectations. However, we still face significant 
challenges. Unemployment remains too high and global markets are 
showing signs of instability, both of which are the lingering effects 
of the Great Recession. Casting a grim shadow over all of our actions 
is the fact that some Members of this body still persist in ignoring 
the public and letting ideology stand in the way of striking a 
reasonable balance to tame our national debt and grow the economy.
  Of note is the recent report released by the nonpartisan 
Congressional Budget Office, showing that the Recovery Act we passed 2 
years ago has been a significant success in an otherwise gloomy 
economic picture. According to the CBO, the Recovery Act increased GDP 
growth by up to 1.9 percent in the third quarter of this year, a 
quarter in which we had 2 percent growth. That's an extraordinary 
impact.
  Thanks to the Recovery Act, 2.4 million people, according to the CBO, 
now have a job and the overall unemployment rate is 1.3 percent lower 
than it otherwise would have been if we'd done nothing, as my friends 
on the other side of the aisle wanted us to do.
  According to CBO's in-depth analysis, the Recovery Act will continue 
to have a significant impact on the economy. Although it was designed 
to operate from 2009 to 2011, CBO found it will continue to drive GDP 
growth next year, adding 1 percent to the economy and will further 
increase employment by 1 million jobs.
  After opposing any stimulus action in the midst of the worst economic 
contraction in 80 years, the Republicans actually criticize the 
Recovery Act now for the fact that it didn't do enough. That speaks 
less to the merits of the Recovery Act, I'd suggest, than it does about 
the magnitude of the Great Recession. And it is extraordinary chutzpa 
from the other side to just say ``no'' and now criticize the Recovery 
Act for being inadequate.
  The Great Recession was, in fact, the Nation's worst economic 
collapse in 80 years. What began in the subprime housing market quickly 
spread throughout the financial industry, threatening economic ruin. At 
its height, more than 700,000 Americans were losing their jobs every 
single month. Millions more lost their homes through foreclosures. The 
Great Recession was already one of America's worst before President 
Obama was ever sworn into office, and during that economic maelstrom 
our first act in the 111th Congress was to pass the Recovery Act to 
help, on a party-line vote, I'm sad to say.

                              {time}  1040

  Many of my Republican colleagues point to the continued weakness in 
the economy as an indication of the Recovery Act's failure, rather than 
acknowledging that it is actually a function of the severity of the 
recession and failing to acknowledge their own supine, Darwinian 
response to it. They claim that, as the economic turmoil which began in 
2007 raged all around us, Americans would have been better served had 
Congress simply done nothing and hoped for the best. Now, as the 
lingering effects of the recession continue to hold back a robust 
recovery, they continue to defy reasonable bipartisan attempts to put 
people back to work and get our country moving again.
  The Recovery Act cut taxes for 95 percent of all Americans--both 
families and small businesses. It kept thousands of teachers, police 
officers, and firefighters on the job. Recovery Act dollars funded 
highways and transit improvements in every State, putting hundreds of 
thousands in the depressed construction industry back to work. There 
was a time when cutting taxes and investing in infrastructure was a 
bipartisan endeavor and had broad Republican support as well as 
Democratic support.
  But there's still time for redemption. The President's American Jobs 
Act now provides another opportunity for

[[Page 18420]]

our Republican friends to actually partner with Democrats and support 
economic recovery. The American Jobs Act provides incentives for 
companies, large and small, to hire additional workers; it cuts taxes 
on every working American in order to further spur economic demand; and 
it provides support for sorely needed infrastructure investments to 
repair America's bridges, roadways, and schools. In short, it builds on 
the success of the Recovery Act we passed 2 years ago.
  There are 2.4 million Americans with jobs today because we took 
action 2 years ago. With 14 million more waiting, we can't afford now 
to do nothing. We must act.

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