Harry Reid: “the managers of this bill, of course, are two of the most talented and experienced men who serve in the Senate and who…”

“the managers of this bill, of course, are two of the most talented and experienced men who serve in the Senate and who have ever served here, and their cooperation and partnership in moving this bill through the Senate in years past has been legendary. I am sure this year will be no different. The work that has been done in the Defense Subcommittee has created a lot of jobs. There is no question about that. It is one of the bright spots in the economic pattern of our country. As a result of what is going on in defense, jobs have been created. But it is not that way throughout most of the economy. Most of the economy is in dire jeopardy, suffering all kinds of problems. I know we all wish the news about unemployment would get better, but it keeps getting worse. That is unfortunate. Late last week, the Labor Department released some of the worst news we have had in a long time as relates to the economy. The number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits rose to a 20-year high, 439,000. Since President George Bush took office, we have lost more than 3.1 million jobs--it is quickly approaching 3.2 million jobs--in the private sector. Unemployment overall jumped last month to 6.4 percent. That does not include those who have given up hope and stopped looking for work and are not included in the 6.4 percent.”