On the recordDecember 13, 2011
I want to commend Mr. Camp and Mr. Levin for working hard on these issues. I think they do try to put the country before the party. But this bill is terrible. It is terrible. The holidays must have come early for the majority. What we have here is a serious proposal? It's a stocking stuffed to the brim with ideology. And I thought we could put that aside and put the country first, more important than parties, more important than ideology. I agree with you. Let's weed out those people who literally are crooks and try to steal from the public trough and take advantage of unemployment. I went to an unemployment office yesterday in my area, in my district, in a major city, Paterson. I went to the unemployment center. I looked through all of those folks that were waiting online and working and looking and seeking work and being trained for specific jobs, particularly in health care. I looked through those records. And if you think you're going to reduce the amount of money that Americans have to spend to help their brothers and sisters, you are dead wrong. Dead wrong. What we've done in the Bush tax cuts, they were for the least needy. Now we're talking about the most needy. The unemployment rate in New Jersey is 9.1 percent. The average in the United States is 8.6 percent. I'm asking you, I'm begging you, let's get beyond this. And why didn't we put employers in this? What if employers had their part shaved like the employee that we are suggesting here?…
