On the recordMay 15, 2013
Madam Speaker, it has now been 864 days since I arrived in Congress, and the Republican leadership has still not allowed a single vote on serious legislation to address our unemployment crisis. We need to pass the American Jobs Act now. It deserves a vote. Unemployment is now higher than the 7.5 percent we hear about in the news. Another full percent of the workforce can find only short-term, unreliable work. Another half percent has stopped looking because there is no opportunity. Another 5 percent is stuck working part-time when they want full-time work. So our real unemployment rate is closer to 14 percent. Madam Speaker, these people are not lazy. It's this Congress that's lazy. We are doing nothing to create opportunity for Americans who are suffering. Our mantra should be: jobs, jobs, jobs. ____________________





