Patty Murray: “I rise this evening amid new and very pressing concerns about the future of our economy. Today, millions of Americans…”

“I rise this evening amid new and very pressing concerns about the future of our economy. Today, millions of Americans are struggling to keep their homes. The price of just about everything, from gas, college, health care, you name it, is on the rise, and families from coast to coast are wondering how they are going to make ends meet. Just last week, we saw new and shocking statistics illustrating this crisis. With the price of the American Dream going up, working families seem to be facing new challenges every day. Last week, it was a new report from the Department of Labor. They told us the overall unemployment rate rose from 5 percent to 5.5 percent in May, up from 4.5 percent just 1 year ago. That is 861,000 new unemployed people in 1 month, bringing the total to 8½ million people unemployed in America today in May. Today, there is even more bad news. Gas has, for the first time, hit an average of $4 a gallon. Madam President, the American people are hurting. While job creation and wage levels are dropping, prices are going up. Everything costs more, but families don't have enough money to spend. The bottom line is the American Dream is slipping through the fingers of too many Americans, and we have to do something about it.”