Frank Pallone: “I take to the floor this evening for the first day of the new Congress basically to talk about the economy and my…”

“I take to the floor this evening for the first day of the new Congress basically to talk about the economy and my concern about the fact that the Republican majority, President Bush and the Republican majority now in both the House and the other body, really are not doing anything, in my opinion, to address the downturn in the economy, the loss of jobs, the loss of production. It is of a great deal of concern to me and I know to my constituents. This is their number one concern, what is this Congress and what is this President going to do to turn the economy around. Today is a very important day in that regard, because the President today, in Chicago, we understand, is unveiling his economic stimulus package, what he claims will be the answer to try to revive the economy. Every indication that we have had so far, as Democrats, is that his proposal will not do anything significant to turn the economic situation around, will not create more jobs. It is primarily a plan that benefits the wealthy, the corporate interests, and does very little, certainly very little in the next year or two, that would make any difference in terms of the economic situation in the United States and the world.”