[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13083]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
                             FAMILIES FIRST

  (Mr. McNERNEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McNERNEY. Madam Speaker, the average family income in Stockton, 
California, has gone down 12 percent over the last 3 years. Families 
are working longer hours for less pay, and this is happening across the 
Nation. Wages are falling, while the cost of living inches up. That is 
why Democrats have a plan to put families first.
  First, let's put people to work now by fixing our aging 
infrastructure and providing tax incentives for hiring. Then let's 
create a workforce of the future by providing universal early childhood 
education and give more Pell grants to college students.
  Let's make sure that women make equal pay for equal work and that 
families have quality, affordable child care. I ask my Republican 
colleagues: Why aren't we doing these things right now? Don't the 
middle class families deserve some help?
  There are other critical issues languishing here, such as immigration 
reform and action on climate change. We need leadership, not inaction. 
I challenge our Republican colleagues to get to work now to start 
solving our Nation's problems.

                          ____________________