Maxwell Frost: “Mr. Speaker, since September 11, the world has watched this Nation, from the President and the Congress to the U.S.…”

“Mr. Speaker, since September 11, the world has watched this Nation, from the President and the Congress to the U.S. military abroad and the American people here at home, pull together to wage war on terrorism. Unfortunately, America's desperately needed economic recovery has been a different matter. Our economy has been in recession since March, long before September 11, according to the experts. Millions and millions of people are unemployed across the country. In the past few months alone, hundreds of thousands of hard-working Americans have lost their jobs. Meanwhile, just months after Republicans passed budget-busting trillion dollar tax breaks, the administration is now admitting that the surplus it inherited is gone and America now faces years of growing debt, threatening priorities from Social Security and Medicare to homeland security and affordable health care. How have Republican leaders responded to this problem? With billions of dollars in tax breaks for big corporations, leaving just crumbs for laid-off workers. And today, Mr. Speaker, Republican leaders are using the House to play politics for the 2002 elections.”