[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9241]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       LOOK TO THE GREEN ECONOMY

  (Ms. HANABUSA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. HANABUSA. Madam Speaker, President Obama laid out in his State of 
the Union address a blueprint for an America to last. To do this, he 
said, we need to rebuild the American economy by reviving 
manufacturing, new and innovative energy sources, educating and 
creating a strong, more skilled workforce. And, more importantly, 
renewing our American values.
  I want to talk about the new and innovative energy sources. Remember 
when the ARRA was passed, President Obama spoke about building the 
green economy, jobs in the energy field that look to the future. Hawaii 
shows that this can work. Our recent unemployment rate shows that it 
does work. Our UI rate is 6.3 percent, though we would like to see it 
lower. Note that our initial claims are down 16 percent. Total claims 
are down 10 percent from last year. And the area where we're seeing job 
creation is in the solar energy market. We have an 18 percent increase 
in the permits in the first 5 months of this year.
  Our Department of Labor projects 2,900 jobs by the end of this year--
green jobs, 25 percent over the past 2 years.
  President Obama has got it right. Let's look to the green economy.

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