Lee Terry: “Yes, Mr. Speaker. But this is a very serious matter, even though we jest about such silly things in the Senate bill, and…”

“Yes, Mr. Speaker. But this is a very serious matter, even though we jest about such silly things in the Senate bill, and how their philosophy is to focus on these individual pork projects, as opposed to the stimulus package we have laid out for the people of America. Shortly before we voted on this stimulus package in the House, Mr. Speaker, and shortly before our mail was stopped by anthrax threats, I received a letter from a mother in Omaha. As the father of three young boys, when I get letters from young mothers, they are particularly touching, but this one even more so, because she talked about how her husband, the breadwinner of this family, the one who puts the food on the table for her children in their small household, had just been laid off. It was really a heart-wrenching story. Frankly, Omaha is better off. Our unemployment rate has gone up significantly, but it is better than most communities around the Nation. Yet, this is still very real about people losing their jobs. At this point in time we read almost weekly reports of consumer confidence being way off, manufacturing and trade sales are weakest. We got some good news with the auto industry because of some zero percent financing in attempts to sell new cars. I really believe that this is the time, now is the time for us in Congress to not be timid but to do what it takes to stimulate the economy, because we are talking about people's jobs.”