Barbara Lee: “Let me thank the gentleman for yielding and for his steady and undying support for people who really have had a very…”

“Let me thank the gentleman for yielding and for his steady and undying support for people who really have had a very tough time and who have not had any opportunities for many years now. Thank you, Mr. McDermott, for your leadership. Mr. Speaker, I've been listening to the debate here about jobs. We, too, are asking, Where are the jobs? From what I remember, there were very few Republican votes for the many job creation bills which Democrats have passed. So, if you are not going to support a real jobs initiative, I can't understand, for the life of me, why in the world you won't support just the basics for people, just a bit of help for those who have no jobs and for those who you won't help get jobs. Support for unemployment compensation speaks, really, to who we are as a country. This is a moral and an ethical issue of which those who really care about the least of these should support. People have lost their jobs for a variety of reasons--primarily, yes, due to the economic policies of the previous administration. We know many people who have lost their jobs due to their not being able to find work in this new economy. People have lost their jobs because their communities have been shut down as a result of the foreclosure crisis. They have lost their homes. They have lost their jobs. They have no health care. What in the world is going on in our country?”