[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10416]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            JOBS, JOBS, JOBS

  (Ms. WILSON of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. WILSON of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it's now been 906 days since I 
arrived in Congress, and the Republican leadership has still not 
allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our 
unemployment crisis. Thirty-seven percent of unemployed Americans have 
been without work for more than 6 months. That's 4.4 million people who 
haven't worked for at least a half-year.
  Take a moment to imagine life without a job for 6 months. Imagine 
depleting your retirement savings to pay for your family's food and 
shelter. Imagine the pain of facing rejection again and again. As 
researchers around the Nation have demonstrated, employers simply do 
not want to hire the long-term unemployed. There's a stigma workers 
just can't shake.
  It's up to Congress to take action. It's time for us to focus on 
retraining and reemployment programs to ensure that we stop the 
establishment of a permanent underclass in America. The mantra of this 
Congress should be jobs, jobs, jobs.

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