Gerald Kleczka: “our Nation's economy has hit an extraordinary low. Since January 2001, 1.7 million jobs have been lost and unemployment…”

“our Nation's economy has hit an extraordinary low. Since January 2001, 1.7 million jobs have been lost and unemployment stands at the highest rate in 8 years. Estimates show that 8.6 million Americans are actively searching for work, but unable to find it. In my State of Wisconsin, we are experiencing a 5.4 percent unemployment rate. Over 42,000 people from the area I represent are out of work. In times like this, our Nation's social safety net must be extended, not retracted. Welfare rolls may have dropped, but poverty and hardship have not. The success in the welfare reform bill that my Republican colleagues point to is an illusion. Our economic landscape is much different than it was during the welfare debate of the late 1990s. Then jobs were plentiful; today, they are not. Now welfare reform will be put to the test. Instead of providing poor individuals with appropriate skills, training and education, the Republican welfare reform bill goes in a complete opposite direction. H.R. 4 significantly reduces the ability of States to get individuals into innovative training and education programs.”