Joe Lieberman: “very briefly I just wanted to respond to my friend from Mississippi and say we are at a time when, obviously, we have to…”

“very briefly I just wanted to respond to my friend from Mississippi and say we are at a time when, obviously, we have to make some tough choices, a lot of tough choices. There are a lot of rescissions in this bill to cut spending and I am going to support most of them. But it seems to me this is one that does not make sense because of the numbers I cited, which is $8 in economic growth for every $1 we spend in this program. I have to tell my colleague, I know we all hear different messages from our people back home. When I am in Connecticut there is one question that I think is most on people's minds, resonating throughout the State, and I think, throughout the country. The question is: ``Can you do something in Washington to protect my job, to keep my job secure?'' If people have lost a job, as too many people in my State have, because of manufacturing downsizing, the question becomes: ``What can you do to help me get a new job?'' I know some of the old industries in our State which have downsized, some have even closed, are not going to expand in the near future. The only answer here is to grow the economy. There are tax policies I will look forward to supporting that will encourage capital formation and help make that possible. But it seems to me one of the best things we can do is to create manufacturing extension centers that will reach out to the small- and mid-size companies to help them grow and help them create jobs.”