Mr. Speaker, it's been 786 days since I arrived in Congress, and the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives has not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis. Congress has instead been consumed by a single-minded focus on the Federal budget deficit. Well, I have news for my colleagues: our real deficit is unemployment. Unemployment is not only the moral crisis of our time--leaving families homeless and dreams destroyed--but also an underlying cause of our Federal Government's increased levels of borrowing. Massive job losses following the 2008 financial crisis left us with fewer tax receipts and more people requiring benefits. There's ultimately only one responsible way to reduce the Federal deficit: get everyone trained, get everyone retrained, get everyone working, and get everyone contributing to the tax base. Jobs, jobs, jobs should be our mantra. ____________________
On the recordFebruary 26, 2013
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