Jay Rockefeller: “I would like to talk about a different subject, and that is the millions of people who are not working. I think we owe…”

“I would like to talk about a different subject, and that is the millions of people who are not working. I think we owe it to the American people to discuss the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs under the economic plans of the sitting President. In particular, I would like to focus on the millions of Americans who have lost good manufacturing jobs, and that is the subject of my discourse. Let me draw your attention to a few very troubling statistics. Manufacturing employment in the United States has now fallen to the lowest level in 41 years. In the last 5 years, we have lost 16 percent of all of our factory jobs. In the last 2 years alone, we have lost more than 2.5 million manufacturing jobs. In my own State of West Virginia, we have lost 14,000 factory jobs since January 2001. To me, these are frightening statistics. They ought to jolt every Member of the Senate and prompt an urgent call for action. A vibrant manufacturing base, in this Senator's opinion, is essential to our standard of living.”