Bill Pascrell: “I would like to say to the gentleman from Georgia, before he leaves the floor, that I wish him the best of luck, Doc.…”

“I would like to say to the gentleman from Georgia, before he leaves the floor, that I wish him the best of luck, Doc. And I wish the other Doc, the gentleman from Washington who has already left the floor, the best of luck. The gentleman from New Jersey, Rush Holt, who is going to speak after me, is leaving as well. And I must say some things about all three of you, if I may, because you fit into these particular characteristics. The three of you are gentlemen. The three of you are real patriots. The three of you are civil in every respect. The three of you have a good sense of the Congress. The three of you have a great respect for the institution. And you will be missed. God bless you. Godspeed. And good luck to you and your families. The American Economy Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the state of our Nation's economy. I have been waiting for this opportunity, Mr. Speaker. This is the time to do it. Six years ago, when President Obama raised his hand on the steps of the Capitol of the United States of America and was sworn in as President, we were losing over 800,000 jobs every month, and these were mostly middle-income and lower-income Americans who were out of work. In the final 6 months of President Bush's administration, we lost 3.5 million jobs. By the time the recession was over, 8.8 million Americans were out of work.…”