[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11044]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 OUR MANTRA SHOULD BE: 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 919 days since I 
arrived in Congress--919 days--and the Republican leadership has still 
not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our 
unemployment crisis.
  After learning of Friday's lackluster job numbers, many pundits and 
politicians actually cheered. It could have been worse, they said. They 
also said things are returning to normal.
  Try telling that to any of the 11.8 million Americans who are still 
out of work, or to the millions more who are underemployed or have 
given up looking for work.
  According to Friday's job numbers, the average length of unemployment 
is now at 35 weeks. Before the Great Recession, the average was just 16 
weeks.
  Mr. Speaker, it's no wonder people are losing hope. It's our 
obligation to restore that hope.
  As we begin this July session, let's commit to passing a 
comprehensive bill to restore unemployment for young people, recent 
grads, and the long-unemployed.
  Mr. Speaker, our mantra should be: jobs, jobs, jobs.

                          ____________________