I come to the floor once again to talk about manufacturing jobs and their importance for rebuilding the American middle class, their importance for our economy, and their importance for our future.
Last week President Obama delivered his State of the Union Address before a joint session of this Congress, and he talked about what we can and should do together to invest in America's workers, to spur job creation, and to expand economic opportunity. He said:
What I believe unites the people of this nation, is the simple, profound belief in opportunity for all--the notion that if you work hard and take responsibility, you can and should get ahead. Opportunity is who we are. And the defining project of our generation is to restore that trust.
I couldn't agree more. At a basic level, one thing we need to do is to put up a floor under the struggling workers in America who are continuing to seek work and to come together to extend emergency unemployment insurance for these long-term job seekers.