Political Quotes

On the recordJune 15, 2011
2 weeks ago there was an economic disclosure about the number of people gaining jobs in America. The good news is it was on the positive side of the ledger, more jobs being created. The bad news is it was not nearly enough and not fast enough. Even though these jobs are being created in the private sector, we still know too many Americans are out of work. There are 13.9 million Americans unemployed. That is a little over 9 percent of all Americans actively seeking work. Worse, nearly 25 million Americans are underemployed. People working part time when they want to work full time are taking a job that pays a fraction of what they earned in previous employment. That is 15.8 percent of all Americans who would like to work full time but cannot do it. That is not a problem for these families, it is a crisis, and every minute we ignore it is a minute not spent well by this body. A year ago it became increasingly clear there was little appetite in Washington moving toward job creation. When the President was elected, he was greeted on the day he was sworn in by news that that month--and the following month--we had lost some 700,000 jobs in America. What we had had 8 years before, a surplus and booming economy, had hit the skids and people were losing jobs, businesses were failing, and people felt it in their savings accounts and IRAs all across America.…
Said by
Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois
Source
govinfo.gov
Jun 15, 2011

Share

More from Dick Durbin

Aug 26, 2026

I secured $1 million in federal funding for Lurie Children’s to help create this community health clinic in Austin and now, that investment comes to life.

durbin.senate.gov
Aug 21, 2026

In the coming weeks, we remain committed to supporting our union members during this transition and working with Tyson to ensure that they have access to resources that support their return to work.

durbin.senate.gov
Aug 26, 2026

The President is dead set on attacking Americans’ right to vote and undermining our democracy by making baseless claims about ‘rigged’ elections, demanding unreasonable voter registration requirements, restricting mail-in voting, and…

durbin.senate.gov
Aug 21, 2026

The American Red Cross declared a national blood supply crisis in the U.S. last month for just the second time ever, which has impacted patients’ ability to be treated for illnesses or undergo surgery.

durbin.senate.gov

Other voices in this conversation