releases: https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/on-labor-day-congresswoman-honors-americas-workers-and-calls-for-gop-cooperation-in-quick-action-on-job-creation-measures-in-september
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/on-labor-day-congresswoman-honors-americas-workers-and-calls-for-gop-cooperation-in-quick-action-on-job-creation-measures-in-september | On Labor Day, Congresswoman Honors America's Workers and Calls for GOP Cooperation in Quick Action on Job Creation Measures in September | 2011-09-02 | 2011 | 2011-09 | Democrat | House | CA | Barbara Lee | L000551 | lee.house.gov | legacy | 09.02.11 On Labor Day, Congresswoman Honors America's Workers and Calls for GOP Cooperation in Quick Action on Job Creation Measures in September Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882 August Jobs Report Underscores Jobs Crisis As National Emergency Oakland, CA On this Labor Day, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) calls on Republican leaders in the House to address the jobs crisis by enacting key pieces of legislation and encourages Americans to speak out in favor of the fundamental rights of American workers. After decades of protesting and organizing, American workers secured basic rights such as the minimum wage, the 40-hour work week, child labor laws, and the fundamental right to collectively bargain. Now, workers are just struggling to get a job. I am extremely disappointed that this morning's national unemployment figures show that the economy added no net new jobs in August, and while the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent nationally, it has risen dramatically from 15.9 percent to 16.7 percent in the African American community, said Congresswoman Lee. Our nation's jobs crisis is a national emergency. Leaders in Washington have spent too much time and energy focused on deficit reduction and playing political games and now it is time to work for job creation, address the realities of economic inequality, and fight against poverty. Democrats are calling on Washington Republicans to quickly enact several measures that would create jobs now, provide support to the long-term unemployed, and strengthen the economy, such as: -The Urban Jobs Act (H.R. 683), which would provide job training, education, and support services and activities for eligible young adults to prepare them for entry into the workforce through local grants and the National Urban League. -Targeted federal on-the-job training programs which can be rapidly scaled up on those communities hit worst by the Great Recession, most often communities of color. -National service programs, federal summer job programs, and other programs which support, train, and focus on youth. -The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Expansion Act (H.R. 589), a bill I introduced to extend unemployment benefits for an additional fourteen weeks, not only providing unemployed workers with assistance for food and shelter, but stimulating the economy immediately. -A robust Highway bill that would rebuild American roads and transit as well as create jobs, at the same time rejecting the House GOP approach that would slash investments and would destroy more than 600,000 jobs. -A bipartisan Infrastructure Bank proposal that can create millions of new jobs by creating a private-public partnership to finance needed projects to rebuild and modernize our roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, airports, railways, ports, broadband, and power grids. -Legislation to create clean energy jobs, including renewing the clean energy manufacturing tax credit that expired in 2010. After more than 230 days in the majority, House Republicans have yet to pass a single piece of legislation to create jobs, have actually voted to pass legislation that would destroy nearly 2 million jobs, and have voted against 10 Democratic initiatives to create jobs. On Labor Day, we renew our commitment to strengthening America's workforce and expanding economic opportunity, said Congresswoman Lee. The number-one issue of America's working families is the creation of jobs and the strengthening of our economy. The need for action by Congress is urgent. There are too many families struggling to get by and too many workers without a regular paycheck. ### Follow Barbara Lee on Twitter @RepBarbaraLee Next Article | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |