On the recordMay 26, 2010
Mr. Speaker, yesterday we heard some business economic history that might make even Pinocchio blush. Our friends on the other side of the aisle sometimes want the public to forget we inherited an economy in free fall last January. GDP had plummeted 5.4 percent and 741,000 Americans lost their jobs that month. This Congress took decisive action to halt that downward spiral known as the Great Recession. Those efforts are yielding results today, fostering 290,000 jobs last month, 600,000 jobs so far this year, on a track to create more jobs this year than in the previous 8 years under their rule. In my Virginia district alone we created 4,000 jobs last month and saw the unemployment rate drop. The national economy has posted positive growth in each of the last three-quarters, jumping 5.6 percent alone in the first quarter. Mr. Speaker, our Republican colleagues continue to advocate for the bankrupt policies that previously drove our Nation into the economic ditch. We have chosen a new path, and it's those actions and investments that are putting Americans back to work today. ____________________





