On the recordSeptember 12, 2011
I thank the vice chair of the CBC. And to follow Congressman G.K. Butterfield, who I think hit on all of the proper and necessary areas of concerns, it has been written that ours will be the last generation in this country to experience surpassing the previous generation, that our children will not achieve what we have achieved and the jobs are not there. And while the individuals who have written about this and presented research on it are certainly brilliant and wise, I will gently rebuke them and disagree with their prediction. I am not in any way willing to accept the fact, the fatalism, that the United States will inevitably fall to number two in the world behind China. Yesterday there was a news story that said at best there will be two superpowers equal in terms of influence and their economies: China and the United States. This Nation that placed men on the Moon, this Nation that creates a new technology almost hourly should never surrender its place in the world to any other nation. And, further, I don't think that it is in our best interest to even give a hint that we believe that we can't continue to create jobs for the next generation. The jobs tour that we had during the month of August was eye-opening and Earth-shattering. When we walked from our cars inside the Cleveland State University place where we held the jobs fair, there were people who had been in line since 5 a.m. that morning.…
