[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13420]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          ECONOMY/UNEMPLOYMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Black) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BLACK. Mr. Speaker, the latest jobs report released last week 
was a sad reminder of just how bad things have been in the Obama 
economy.
  When the President's stimulus was passed in 2009, the administration 
predicted that our unemployment rate would have fallen to just 5 
percent by now. But it hasn't. It remains stuck over 7 percent and 
would be closer to 10 percent if millions of Americans had not given up 
looking for work altogether.
  In fact, this latest jobs report highlighted a deeply disturbing 
statistic: the percentage of Americans working or looking for work has 
dropped to its lowest level since the middle of the Carter 
administration.
  What makes this situation even sadder for Americans across the 
country is that this does not have to be the case. The President could 
work with Congress to implement policies that would help our economy 
grow and help our Americans get back to work. The President could work 
with us to delay ObamaCare, which is devastating the hiring and 
employment practices of companies across this country and creating a 
Nation of part-time workers. The President could join a bipartisan 
consensus here in Congress and approve the Keystone pipeline that would 
immediately create 20,000 jobs. The President could drop his continued 
insistence on tax increases and work with this Congress to pass a 
comprehensive, revenue-neutral tax reform package that promotes 
economic growth.
  The President has a Congress willing to work with him to help 
struggling Americans across this country. Whether he chooses to work 
with us is his decision.

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