James Oberstar: “I rise in support of H.R. 2535, as amended by the manager's amendment, a bill to reauthorize the Economic Development…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 2535, as amended by the manager's amendment, a bill to reauthorize the Economic Development Administration (EDA). In 1965, I was present when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Public Works and Economic Development Act creating EDA. In fact, I still have the pen he used at the signing ceremony. Since its inception, I have been a strong supporter of EDA and now, nearly 40 years later, I continue to believe in EDA's core mission--to create economic opportunity for those living and working in economically distressed communities. EDA's mission--to create economic opportunities for all--remains as vital and necessary today as it was four decades ago. As our economy continues to struggle, the importance of EDA becomes even more apparent. Since January 2001, the national unemployment rate has risen to 6.1 percent, the highest level in 9 years. Further, in that time, the number of unemployed workers has increased from 5.9 million people to almost 9 million--an increase of more than 3 million unemployed workers, or 50 percent. Moreover, workers who have lost their jobs are having more trouble finding new jobs. The average length of unemployment is now almost 20 weeks, the longest it has been in nearly two decades. Within the last 2 weeks, the number of workers who have been unemployed for longer than 6 months has increased by more than 1.5 million to more than 2.1 million--an increase of 218 percent.”