Cord Byrd: “last Friday, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2 percent during the first 3…”

“last Friday, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy grew at a rate of 2 percent during the first 3 months of this year, January 2001 to March 2001. That is twice the rate that forecasters were projecting. It doubles the pace of late last year, October 2000 to December 2000. Saturday's Washington Post quoted economist Jim Glassman of J.P. Morgan Securities saying: These are great numbers. They suggest that the economy is not nearly as weak as was feared and that we are not close to being in a recession. This information stands in stark contrast to what the administration has been telling the American people in recent months. In presenting his budget and tax cut proposals to a joint session of Congress on February 28, President Bush declared: the long economic expansion that began almost 10 years ago is faltering. As recently as March, White House aides warned that $1.6 trillion in tax cuts were needed to avert an impending recession. Contrary to the administration's dire warnings, the economy has continued its unbroken 10-year expansion--the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. The Nation's unemployment rate is near historic lows at 4.3 percent. Consumer spending increased from a 2.8 percent rate in February to a 3.1 percent rate in March. Construction spending remains strong, business infrastructure investment is rising, manufacturing activity is inching up, and factory inventories are falling.”