Millions of families are still facing default or foreclosure, vacant homes are dragging down communities.

I believe that the program was the right solution to the problems facing unemployed homeowners and shouldn't be discounted simply because the agency we charged to implement it dropped the ball.

I voted for it, primarily because I thought, well, at least there will be some money so that people can stay in their homes.

And, really, if you look back over the decades through Republican administrations and Democratic administrations, when we have hit unemployment levels that are as high as they are today, have there usually been bipartisan efforts to extend…

When folks lose a job through no fault of their own, the least we ought to do is extend a life line.

What we can do and absolutely must do is knock down all the hurdles that create disincentives for investment in business.

Mr. Secretary, I hope you don't agree with the President on this point.

Mr. Secretary, more regulations from Washington and higher taxes do not encourage risk-taking, business development, and growth.

That doesn't seem to me to be a very creative way to address this problem.

I am thankful that it wasn't, because I think the unemployed need the assistance more in my state than Governor Perry needs their money to pay off state bonds.

And in that circumstance, what will be the effect if the effort last week by Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee to slash the Workforce Investment Act by 75 percent--almost eliminate it--what will the effect be on employment…

Thanks to both of you. I know you are busy folks, but if we can find a reason to bring you up here, I always feel better when you are here.

If you want a dose of reality, sit in my office or the offices of other members of this committee and listen to the stories related to them by Main Street bankers talking about the restrictive regulations imposed.

And I know, as I said in my opening statement, there are those who want to blame the unemployed for unemployment. But aren't we in a circumstance today where there are more than four unemployed Americans available for every job opening?

With reference to the JOBS Act, my recollection is that the bill, though strongly urged in Committee and strongly opposed by me and others in Committee, was never brought by the House leadership to the House floor so that anything could be…

Today in America the problem that we face is not the unemployed, but unemployment.

We must stop the blame-the-victim approach of just blaming unemployment on the unemployed.

Let's hope that this hearing is just the first step in forging a stronger consensus that we must not abandon the millions of our neighbors who depend on unemployment insurance.