Rebuilding The Economy

Floor Speech

Rebuilding The Economy

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Mr. DRIEHAUS. I would thank, Madam Chair, the gentleman from Virginia for leading this hour on our recovery. We talk so much about the job loss that has been created by this Great Recession. But far too often we don't discuss the causes of that job loss, and we don't discuss the direction we are heading in. And so I think it is important to remind the viewers and remind all Americans just where we are.

I was at a luncheon today in Cincinnati, Ohio, with Johnson Investment Counsel. They refer to this as the Great Recession. And they refer to it as the Great Recession because it is the most significant recession that has taken place since the 1930s in the United States.

This recession has lasted for 18 months, longer than any other recession since the Great Depression. This recession has caused a loss of 3.8 percent of the gross domestic product here in the United States, a greater loss than any recession since the Great Depression. This recession has caused the loss of 7.2 million jobs. 7.2 million jobs. The greatest job loss since the Great Depression.

But I think it is important to understand when this recession started. This recession started in 2007, under the policies of the Bush administration. And I know the other side doesn't like us to go back. They want to believe that the world began, that this recession began, in January of 2009. But the facts just don't bear that out.

So I brought this chart. And I brought this chart to explain the job loss that has occurred during this recession. And you can see that in the last 3 months of the Bush administration, this economy lost nearly 2 million jobs. In the last 3 months of the Bush administration alone. As a matter of fact, it is after President Obama took the oath of office that we started turning things around. We are still losing jobs. And I think we all hope that next quarter we will turn this around and see positive growth. We saw growth last quarter. But we are heading in the right direction. And that is the important thing.

Also at the luncheon today, I was struck by the analysis given. And I will just mention the first few points. First of all, the Great Recession is over. The recovery has begun. And I think this is important. Near-term growth has been bolstered by the stimulus and inventory building. There is no question in the minds of economists around the country that the stimulus is working.

I would point you, Mr. Perriello, to just one comment made in the Cincinnati Enquirer this week. It was by the Realtors of Cincinnati. And the Realtors of Cincinnati were praising the stimulus. The headline reads this: ``Realtors, Builders Laud Tax Credit.'' They are praising the tax credit that we passed as a part of the stimulus. Because oftentimes when we talk about the stimulus, this $800 billion package, we forget that $300 billion of it was tax credits. It was tax credits and tax breaks for moderate-income families. And an important credit was to stimulate first-time homebuyers and to help people get back in the housing market. We have achieved that. Realtors understand that, people around the country understand it, because homes are starting to sell. And it is thanks to the efforts of this Democratic Caucus.

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