Frank Pallone: “as the first quarter of 2008 ended, it was clear that things are not getting any better for American families struggling…”

“as the first quarter of 2008 ended, it was clear that things are not getting any better for American families struggling to make ends meet. Americans continue to face higher costs for basic necessities, millions of families have lost their homes due to the troubled real estate market, and several million more Americans are uninsured. Last week, we also learned that April was the fourth month in a row that our economy lost jobs. With 20,000 jobs lost last month, our economy has now shed 260,000 jobs so far this year. That's particularly troublesome considering that experts say the economy must create 150,000 jobs a month just to keep up with the number of Americans entering the job market. All of these red flags show why it is so important that we worked together in a bipartisan fashion earlier this year to pass the economic stimulus package. As a result of that action, 150 million taxpayers began receiving rebate checks last week. That was a good start, but more needs to be done. Madam Speaker, with so many Americans struggling and the bad economic news continuing to mount, we urge the President and the Republicans to join us to pass a second economic stimulus package.”