Steny Hoyer: “Mr. Speaker, today the leadership of this House breathes life back into the spirit of Ebeneezer Scrooge and for the…”

“Mr. Speaker, today the leadership of this House breathes life back into the spirit of Ebeneezer Scrooge and for the second year in a row ignores the plight of America's unemployed during the holiday season. The majority's failure to extend emergency unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed is not only unconscionable; it is cold-hearted. In May, President Bush said, ``My economic plan is summed up in one word: jobs.'' But the truth is, even after 4 straight months of anemic job growth, President Bush is on course to become the first President since Herbert Hoover to preside over a net jobs loss during his 4-year term. Yes, the economy added 57,000 jobs in November, but here is what they do not say: the economy has to create 150,000 jobs a month just to keep pace with the new folks coming into the employment arena. Overall, there are 8.7 million unemployed Americans today; and nearly one-fourth of them, Mr. Speaker, some 2 million people, have been jobless for more than 26 weeks. Mr. Speaker, that is the highest percentage of long-term unemployment since July of 1983, 20 years ago; and there are about 4.2 million other workers who want a job, but are not even counted among the unemployed.”