Frank Lautenberg: “Earlier today, there were statements made on the floor, echoed by the junior Senator from Colorado, in which he claimed…”

“Earlier today, there were statements made on the floor, echoed by the junior Senator from Colorado, in which he claimed several times President Bush inherited a bad economy. I know my friends on the other side of the aisle genuinely want to believe that, but it is simply not true. That is not the fact. The official arbiter of when recessions begin and end is the National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER. Despite intense and inappropriate political pressure from the White House, the NBER continues to insist the recession began in March of 2001, nearly 3 months after President Bush took office. Facts are stubborn. On a related note, the junior Senator from Texas was on the floor some time ago with a poster that read: Most jobs ever. Perhaps he was referring to India. He certainly could not be referring to the United States. Yesterday, we had another administration official--in this instance Treasury Secretary Snow--talking about how wonderful outsourcing is for our economy. Don't ask the people who are out of work, I can tell you that, and don't ask their families. This notion the U.S. economy is currently generating record numbers of jobs is thoroughly specious. It would be laughable if it were not so pathetic.”