Date: 2011-12-12
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker. I almost dont know where to start. Let me. first of all. indicate my privilege to be yielded the hour as the representative of the minority leader and also to indicate my privilege to discuss some of the issues of the Congressional Black Caucus. which has been a leader. along with our chairman. EMANUEL CLEAVER. and our officers and those of us who have worked on these issues. on the question of jobs for America. I almost dont know where to start. First of all. let me say happy holidays to my colleagues and. in this season of giving and joy. acknowledge how special a time it is for families to come together. I do want to start on some of the comments of my friend and colleague from Texas. I am delighted to have him acknowledge that we cannot condemn one faith as it relates to the harm that terrorists desire to do against us. Its important to also note that there are some distortions in the comments about terrorism and in the Presidents position and the administrations position. I think it is important to acknowledge that the war against those who will do us harm is not about points. its not about partisanship. its not about oneupmanship. its not about what one administration has done better than the other. I am very grateful to the men and women in our intelligence community and to the men and women in the United States military and to those who are engaged in homeland security that we have not had a terrorist act of the proportion of 9/11 on our soil since 9/11. There are no doubts of the many threats that have been interjected and stopped. and its important for my colleagues to understand that. I am a senior member on the Homeland Security Committee. Tragically. I was appointed to the select Committee on Homeland Security and traveled with one or two Senators. people in the other body. to Ground Zero. When I arrived. it was early enough that one of the rescue missions was continuing. One could see the smoke billowing out of the ashes. and as we visited the board that still had loved ones about whom people were asking. Have you seen my father or my son?. it was a potent message for those of us who are committed to securing the homeland. The chairperson for a period was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Chairman THOMPSON. He serves now as the ranking member of the committee. He has always chosen to be bipartisan. And over the last week. we joined in a bipartisan hearing with the Senate. Senator LIEBERMAN in the other body. Senator COLLINS. and the chairperson now. Chairman KING. on the question of the potential danger of our military and military bases. In that hearing. no one quarrelled with the responsibility to identify those who would go against our military on domestic soil or how we would address the question. But it is important to note that I stand here and refuse and reject the labeling of one faith as a faith of terror. I have been in so many different mosques and among so many different groups of Muslims who practice Islam who have rejected those horrible acts. One cannot challenge the pathway that President Obama has taken or not view it as a pathway that has saved lives. In particular. there is documentation that the last administration. after a period of time. indicated that they didnt know where Osama bin Laden was. It was not their focus. They knew that the country was safe. but they were not looking for Osama bin Laden. Frankly. in the period of time of President Obamas tenure. he has gotten the imam in Yemen. the American citizen imam that was in Yemen who was a part of the inspiration of Major Hasan. who perpetrated the terrorist acts in Fort Hood in my State. the State of Texas. We have intervened in several terrorist threats and attacks. the Times Square bomber. If my recollection serves me well. I think. also. the Christmas Day bombing. that might have been a little bit before that. We have. in essence. taken out a number of hightarget threats to Americas security. We have. in fact. with the intellect and genius and with the order of the President of the United States. President Barack Obama. in a very dangerous mission. the Navy SEALs secured and brought to his end Osama bin Laden. A very dangerous mission. a very controversial mission. but there had to be a Commander in Chief that ordered it. So I take issue with the comment that this President has not been vigilant in protecting the homeland. Any number of us who serve on Homeland Security know that we can always be better and can always work on issues to. in fact. securemore than secure. But as a member of the Homeland Security Committee. Ive watched as our Border Patrol has surged to 18.000. As we have utilized resources on the border. the numbers of those coming across the border illegally have dropped. As we try to be constructive in arguing for comprehensive immigration reform. I have seen a number of responses that would cause me to disagree that this administration has not been vigilant. And even today. as we are speaking to the President of Iraq. arguments are being made to ensure the evenhandedness of Iraqs behavior and their treatment of individuals in Iraq. dealing with those who are at Camp Ashraf. but. more importantly. our ongoing relationship with Iraq and our ongoing relationship with a very vital region where there are allies like the King of Jordan. allies that weve been friends with. that it is important that we maintain a certain type of demeanor. And. clearly. suggesting that a twoState solution is not viable or the Palestinian people are not real. theyre made up. is an outrageous position to take for any public political person that would rise and ascend to leadership. whether it is in the Congress or in the Presidency of the United States. I could not. not just respond to charges of inadequacy by this administration. I have served on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I was privileged to have served. and. likewise. being a member of the Homeland Security Committee and serving as the ranking member on Transportation Security and fighting to enhance security measures. more personnel. better training. responsiveness to those who are patted down and go through aviation security. making it fair but yet making it responsive to the nuances and new ideas of terrorists who want to do us harm. Mr. Speaker. its important that we acknowledge fairness. balance. and that we continue to pray every day for our men and women who are on the front lines. for our intelligence community. for those who are thinking every moment. under this administration. successfully. on addressing that question. I am here. however. to raise the question of our concerns of the American people that are outside the circle of homeland security and address the daytoday needs of those who are fighting against poverty. losing their quality of life. In a discussion that has been going on and on and on and has a simple answer: Just do it. just do it. But yet we are stuck here on December 12I have no quarrel with that because it is our responsibility to be here until we get the job done. but I would encourage those who are listening and our colleagues to work in a bipartisan way. But I would also encourage you to call us at (202) 2253121 and ask us to get the job done fairly. one that is rational and reasonable. Is it going to pass the other body? Is the President going to be able to sign it? Is it going to help the vast numbers of people? As members of the Congressional Black Caucus. we knew that jobs had a devastating impact on this country. the lack thereof. We know that there are unemployment numbers throughout our communities in some pockets of the United Statesin some States. there is doubledigit unemployment amongst all population groups. In the African American population. it is a consistent doubledigit unemployment. Those of us who participated in the Congressional Black Caucus Jobs Fair throughout the many cities. we saw thousands standing in line for jobs. At a recent jobs fair at the Fallbrook Church in Houston. Texas. hundreds were in line for jobs. In a city that has done fairly well. it is not good enough. This is a crisis. Mr. Speaker. and the Congressional Black Caucus introduced legislation that would emphasize that jobs are a musta crisisand must be passed. We all joined in the resolution introduced in the summer months. We all got on that resolution. that we must do everything we can to create jobs. and we introduced a "for the people" job creation bill and worked on initiatives to deal with that. Now. let me tell you where we are. Right now. we are addressing this question this week. Now. I have no qualms that this is about 2 weeks before Christmas. a holiday that many celebrate. and the holidays of other faiths are also celebrated around this time. where all families come together. Hanukkah. No matter what faith you may be. if you are in America. you come toward your family in America. Where our soldiers areeven though many are coming home. many of our soldiers are scattered around the world. I would almost suggest to you that somebodys family member who happens to be related to a member of the United States military may even be unemployed or they may be a worker who is crying out for the payroll tax relief. So I have soldiers up for my colleagues to see. and I have some happy faces for my colleagues to see. And I have another poster for my colleagues to see. It is important that we connect not just to our neighbors but also to realize that our soldiers have family members that would benefit from the payroll tax. Theres a happy family right there. They would benefit from the payroll tax if their family members are here in the United States while they are abroad serving this country. Thats why I have these pictures here. Lets make it real. In addition to all those who are working. there are people who are related to these who have taken the oath to be able to say that we are fighting on behalf of this country. your freedom and your justice. justice and equality. and we are fighting. and we believe it is important that they are fighting for us. they are positioned and posted around the world. and that we be serious about the needs of their family members. a payroll tax relief that put $1.400. $1.000 to $1.400 to $1.500 in the pockets of 160 million Americans. some of whom. as Ive saidI dont want to be redundant. but I want to say it over and over againare related to the very men and women we admire. the very men and women that we admire: husbands. wives. aunts. uncles. grandparents. sons. and daughters of people here in the United States who are now on the front line in many places around the world. Some will be coming home for the holiday season. as the President has ordered troops out of Iraq. What will they come home to? And so heres our answer. They will come home to legislation that I believe has passed the Rules Committee that unfortunately does not speak to the emergency and the crisis of what we are facing. I dont know whether or not my colleagues can see this. but heres a picture of the unemployed. Unemployment is not a respecter of region. not a respecter of race. Ive indicated there are high numbers in the African American community. but people are unemployed across America. Its the highest unemployment we have had in long years. Rather than calling it a crisis. of which it is. where 6 million people will lose their unemployment insurance. this House will now debate a bill that has already been acknowledged that it will have no legs in the other body. It wont get anywhere near being heard or seen. This is a crisis. I think theres about 19 days before December 31. if Im calculating correctly. It is a crisis. and yet we bring to the floor the legislation that has already had the lights turned out on it. while people are suffering. Have you heard that? The fiddlers are fiddling while Rome is burning. Heres a picture of the unemployed. And the bill has extra policy issues: drug test the unemployed. make them get a GED. job training. Im all for all of the efforts of job training and GEDs. We should try to do a polling of the unemployed. Id venture to say many a college graduate. many of them just graduated in 2011 and cannot get a job. I dont think they want to go back to get a GED. I think that is behind where they are. Drug testing will cost $25.000. How often are we doing it? Every week when they pick up their check? Mothers and fathers who are trying to make sure that they pay their mortgage. maybe never taken a drug in their life. subjected to drug testing? Policy being done in the middle of a crisis? So. Mr. LEVIN of the Ways and Means. our ranking member. had a commonsense approach. His commonsense approach was he declared unemployment an emergency. 6 million people about to go over the dam. sinking the ship. burning their house. Its an emergency. Six million people are. if you will. about to go under. Its an emergency. Why couldnt we have a bipartisan agreement on that? Why do we have a bill with a long litany of todos for the unemployed? Has anybody done any research to find out whether or not these people are in need of GEDs or been out of work for however long because of their own fault? The law clearly states that no unemployment insurance is denied that you are able to get unless you have been charged with misconduct or fraud or something else that pertains to you getting the unemployment insurance. Friends. what is the definition of insurance? You pay for it while you work. You pay for insurance. You pay for unemployment insurance. You pay for car insurance. insurance on your house. Its insurance. You had to pay for it to get it. If you are getting unemployment insurance. you had to work to get it. Why are we all these burdens? Let me put up this little picture. to add insult to injury. This bill would cut 40 weeks from the duration of the Federal unemployment compensation and allow States to drug test. And we had some comment aboutrandom comments about people applying for jobs and couldnt pass a drug test or something thereof. Well. let the individual businesses test individuals who are applying for jobs. They can handle it. Ive heard that businesses are not hiring people. theyre holding onto their cash. So these random comments that are being made are not legitimate. They are making comments that people couldnt pass a drug test at a business. If thats the case. let the business continue to drug test. It has nothing to do with individuals who worked and paid for insurance and now we want to deny them and add a burden to the State. the government. to drug test. It is perfectly well for an employer. which many employers do. to individually drug test on their own clock. their own bill. their own tab. As I said. under present law. you cannot deny insurance for reasons other than onthejob misconduct. fraud. or earning too much money from parttime work. That is it. How dare we suggest that we have deadbeatswho are looking for work every day. Where did this scheme come up from? Heres a man who lives in Minneapolis. His name is Dean. Hes watching Congress anxiously. He said he lost his job as a marketing director for a mutual fund company in July. meaning his 6 months of State benefits will expire at the beginning of January. If Congress doesnt strike a deal. he will be ineligible for the additional weeks of Federal benefits given to longterm joblessness since 2008. He said he would be willing to do anything to keep the money flowing if he hasnt found work by then. Its a little bit ludicrous. but this man is so desperate hell do anything. How do we insult the American public who paid for unemployment insurance. and we want this person to be insulted for no reason. no documentation whatsoever. [- 2110 Heres what happens if we donttwo things. one. the payroll tax extension and the unemployment insurance. One. on the payroll tax. 400.000 jobs will be lost. and we will give in to 300.000 of the 1 percent for 160 million Americans who will not get the payroll tax relief of $1.500. One million new jobs could be created thanks to the extension. versus losing 400.000 jobs. How easy is it? A surtax on 300.000 Americans starting in 2013 and finishing in terms of the payback in 10 years. Weve heard over and over again by the 1 percent. many of them saying they dont mind the extra burden. Thats a proposal that I offered and that the ranking member had as part of his proposal. I met with doctors. They are concerned about their Medicare reimbursement. And in this instance. the proposal by the Democrats. which includes