Date: 1981-10-21
Speaker: ST GERMAIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. on Monday. the Banking. Finance and Urban Affairs Committee was. in St. Paul. Minn.. to hear testimony on the impact of. current economic conditions and policies on the economy of that area. This Is the first In a series of six hearings which our committee will conduct across the -Nation In an attempt to obtain agrassroots readings on the economic problems that most concern Americans today. On Monday. the committee sat from shortly after 9:30 a.m. to Just before 7 p.m.-about 91/2 hours of non stop testimonyeveryone from unemployed workers. to the independent supermarket operator. to the high school principal who could not find mortgage money. to the 85yearold senior citizen who was not sure how she was going to pay her gas bills this winter. Mr. Speaker. I do not want to put words In the mouths of my colleagues. but I do not think anyone came away from that hearing without being impressed by the stories of these hardworking citizenspeople Impacted by highinterest rates. lack of employment opportunities. rising utility costs. and without being concerned about the ability of local governments to pick up the slack left by Federal budget cuts. Mr. Speaker. the turnout was so great that the committee decided to forego a lunch break. We ate right there and continued to hear the witnesses throughout the day and long after the sun had setby about 7 R.m.-we had heard 71 people from various parts of Minnesota. of various backgrounds. of various Interests. All of us. Mr. Speaker. will long remember the sight of that Intense. blondheaded young auto worker who had beeft laid off a family to raise. two children. a $600amonth mortgage and unemployment compensation that runs out 1 week from this coming Saturday. In response to comments from some of the members. this young worker told the committee: I dont want your charity. your. welfare. all I want Is a Job ... all I am asking is a chance to work and support my family. ... -thatsal1 Im asking ... I cant feed my family on hope. And Mr. Speaker. at the other end of this witness table was a black worker. perhaps in his forties. who leaned forward and told the committee that he had a masters degree. had taught school. only to lose that job as enrollment declined. finally deciding to work with his hands in an automobile plant. Now. he was seeing that Job fade away while he attempted. as a single parent. to raise his children. He told us he had wanted to remarry. but had decided against it because of unsettled economic conditions and after seeing two Jobs literally disappear from under himthrough events over which he had no control. And it will be awhile. Mr. Speaker. before the story Is forgotten of the gentlemen who appeared before the committee in a threepiece suit to tell us of the problems of a familyrun Independent supermarket. His family. for three generations. he told us. had run several supermarkets In the Rochester. Mimn.. area. and now he wondered whether the business would survive for a fourth generation In the face of high Interest rates. And there was the young Hispanic In St. Paul who had struggled to set up his own plumbing and heating business. working long hours to make his small firm a success. His opportunities were being wiped out as high interest rates crushed the homebuilding industry. Mr. Speaker. these are just a handful of the stories that were related during the long day. We heard dozens of stories of people trying to hold neighborhoods together. to keep small businesses afloat. to borrow money to pay utility bills. to find rental housing. to find Jobs. Mr. Speaker. we will bg holding another hearing in Seattle on November 6. We will be In Tucson on November 7. Chicago on November 9. Atlanta on November 13 and Providence on November 23.