Joe Baca: “since January 2001, 2.7 million people have been put out of work and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are…”

“since January 2001, 2.7 million people have been put out of work and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are doing nothing to change it. H.R. 2185 is an unemployment package that will not help our Nation's economy or our Nation's unemployed. In just the last 3 months, nearly one half million people have lost their jobs. Our unemployment rate is at an astounding 6 percent. That is the highest unemployment rate we have experienced in 10 years. And in response to this, all the Republicans can do is extend unemployment benefits for merely 13 weeks. 13 weeks. This is intolerable. We need legislation that is going to stimulate growth and create jobs. We need to invest in research and technology to try to get this economy moving. We need to find realistic solutions that help the working and unemployed people of this Nation--not merely the wealthiest 5 percent. We need to help the people that have been out of work for more than 6 months or more because this job market simply has nothing to offer. By the end of this month, it is estimated that well over 1 million people will have exhausted both State and Federal unemployment benefits without finding jobs. As Democrats, we want to start passing legislation that creates jobs. We want to make sure that the unemployed have benefits. We want to make sure that people can feed their families and clothe their children. But the Republicans simply will not let us do it.”