WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement praising President-Elect Barack Obama’s selection of Timothy F. Geithner as Treasury Secretary, Lawrence H. Summers as director of the National Economic Council, Christina Romer as chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and Melody Barnes as director of Domestic Policy Council for his incoming administration.

“Today, President-Elect Obama announced that creating a strong, vibrant American middle class will be central to the new administration’s economic policies. Both the appointment of his economic team and this weekend’s announcement of a bold economic recovery plan prove that he intends to do just that. It’s clear that America has a new President who understands that we won’t be able to rebuild our economy unless we invest its economic fundamentals – students, workers, and middle-class families. This is exactly the kind of leadership our nation needs during this critical time.

“President-Elect Obama has assembled a team of talented, seasoned and innovative individuals who are well-equipped to tackle both the immediate and long-term economic challenges we face. His plan to create millions of new jobs by investing in our crumbling infrastructure – our roads, bridges, schools – and in a more sustainable, energy-efficient future is the right approach to get our economy moving forward again. In the coming weeks, Congress will work in a bipartisan way to deliver this plan to his desk so we can help get America back to work.”

At an Education and Labor Committee hearing in October, economists predicted that, unless immediate action was taken to create jobs, the economy could fall deeper into recession and the unemployment rate could reach at least 8 percent. Witnesses testified that making infrastructure investments are some of the most effective uses of federal dollars that create jobs in both the short-term and the long-term. For more information on that hearing, click here.

Earlier this month, Miller announced that the committee's mission in the 111th Congress would be to rebuild and strengthen America’s middle class. For more information, click here.

All CA-7 District Residents Eligible to Win One of Two Pairs of Tickets to Historic Swearing In Ceremony

Washington, DC – Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) today announced a lottery to randomly distribute two pairs of tickets to President-elect Barack Obama's historic inauguration ceremony, which will be held on January 20th, 2009.

“The enthusiasm for this year’s presidential election and historic inauguration has been overwhelming” said Miller. “It is deeply inspiring to see such interest in attending the inauguration. It speaks to both the historic nature of the Barack Obama presidency, but also the sense of urgency the public has for change in our country.”

The lottery will be open to all 7th district constituents who are able to arrange their own transportation to and lodging in the DC area during the January event.

The deadline to register will be Sunday, Nov. 30th 11:59 PM PST on George Miller’s website. Rep. Miller will announce the drawing winner on Monday, Dec. 1st.

These two pairs of tickets are separate from the small allotment of tickets that Rep. Miller intends to distribute to a portion of the constituents who have already requested them.

“This election turned out to be different than any election before,” said Miller. “I want to be able to give every constituent, including those who just recently engaged in the democratic process, a chance to receive a ticket to view Barack Obama’s inauguration.”

Constituents must visit http://www.georgemiller.house.gov/inauguration to register for the lottery.

Miller also reminded 7th district residents that portions of the parade route and sections of the National Mall will be available for those without tickets to participate in this historic occasion. More information about the Inaugural ceremony and other events in Washington can be found at http://www.inaugural.senate.gov.

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You can view the archive webcast on the Education and Labor Committee website.

As you know President Bush asked Congress to approve a “blank check” plan to rescue the economy. We rejected his plan but not the need to act quickly to help people. So we approved a Rescue Plan that has strong taxpayer protections and tough accountability.

*** *** ***
Retirement accounts have lost $2 trillion

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday.

The upheaval that has engulfed the financial industry and sent the stock market plummeting is devastating workers' savings, forcing people to hold off on major purchases and consider delaying their retirement, said Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office.

As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the financial meltdown, the House Education and Labor Committee was hearing from retirement savings and budget analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.

"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis."

More than half the people surveyed in an Associated Press-GfK poll taken Sept. 27-30 said they worry they will have to work longer because the value of their retirement savings has declined.

Orszag indicated the fear is well-founded. Public and private pension funds and employees' private retirement savings accounts — like 401(k)'s — have lost some 20 percent overall since mid-2007, he estimated. Private retirement plans may have suffered slightly more because those holdings are more heavily skewed toward stocks, Orszag added.

"Some people will delay their retirement. In particular, those on the verge of retirement may decide they can no longer afford to retire and will continue working," Orszag said.

A new AARP study found that because of the economic downturn, one in five workers 45 and older has stopped putting money into a 401(k), IRA or other retirement savings account during the past year, and nearly one in four has increased the number of hours he works.

You can view the archive webcast on the Education and Labor Committee website.

As you know President Bush asked Congress to approve a “blank check” plan to rescue the economy. We rejected his plan but not the need to act quickly to help people. So we approved a Rescue Plan that has strong taxpayer protections and tough accountability.

*** *** ***
Retirement accounts have lost $2 trillion

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday.

The upheaval that has engulfed the financial industry and sent the stock market plummeting is devastating workers' savings, forcing people to hold off on major purchases and consider delaying their retirement, said Peter Orszag, the head of the Congressional Budget Office.

As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the financial meltdown, the House Education and Labor Committee was hearing from retirement savings and budget analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.

"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis."

More than half the people surveyed in an Associated Press-GfK poll taken Sept. 27-30 said they worry they will have to work longer because the value of their retirement savings has declined.

Orszag indicated the fear is well-founded. Public and private pension funds and employees' private retirement savings accounts — like 401(k)'s — have lost some 20 percent overall since mid-2007, he estimated. Private retirement plans may have suffered slightly more because those holdings are more heavily skewed toward stocks, Orszag added.

"Some people will delay their retirement. In particular, those on the verge of retirement may decide they can no longer afford to retire and will continue working," Orszag said.

A new AARP study found that because of the economic downturn, one in five workers 45 and older has stopped putting money into a 401(k), IRA or other retirement savings account during the past year, and nearly one in four has increased the number of hours he works.

***

“I voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act today to head off what could be one of the worst financial crises to face our country. I am disappointed that it did not pass today but I am confident Congress will be taking up this issue again just as quickly as is possible.

“We had an agreement on the bill between the House and Senate and the White House. More than half of the Democratic Caucus was committed to voting for this bill. It was our understanding that half of the House Republicans would support it as well. Democrats lived up to our end of the bargain -- in fact two thirds of our members voted for the bill. House Republicans did not deliver enough votes today – in fact only one third of House Republicans supported the President’s bill.

“The fact remains, however, that the serious problems plaguing our financial sector and our economy have not gone away. I remain fully committed to approving a bi-partisan solution to stabilizing the credit markets. I believe we are still on track to achieve such a bi-partisan solution.

“I supported this bill today because I believe the experts, such as the Treasury Secretary, the Fed Chairman, and many other economists, who have made it clear that we face one of the worst financial crises our country has ever seen; a crisis that will touch every American.

“This bill was an attempt to stabilize the credit markets because that is so important to fuel our economy. I did not support the bill because I wanted to help Wall Street. If this bill were just about Wall Street, given their behavior over the years, I wouldn’t walk across the street to save them. But this is really about our communities and families and people’s access to credit and jobs. And that is why I am fully committed to a solution.

“The ‘blank check’ plan the President presented to Congress over 10 days ago was unacceptable and we rejected it. We worked hard to craft a bi-partisan alternative that provided relief to the credit markets but also protected the taxpayer. I am disappointed that this alternative did not pass but I believe that a strong bill that protects the taxpayer and relieves the credit markets can and must pass soon.

“A collapse of our financial system would cripple the credit markets and prevent the economy from growing, hurting Americans’ ability to borrow at reasonable rates to make payroll at small businesses, invest in new equipment, borrow for college, take out a mortgage, start new businesses, or buy new cars. It would further erode savings in people’s pension accounts, retirement accounts, college accounts and other savings. It would hurt our ability to create new jobs. As we are seeing already in California, schools districts, counties, and cities are losing millions of dollars because of the collapse of Wall Street firms in which they invested.

“Americans are furious with the CEOs of Wall Street, and they have every right to be. Just as they should be furious with eight years of the Bush Administration and 12 years of the Republican-led Congress that did nothing but cut taxes for the rich, help Wall Street with deregulation, and provided no oversight from Washington.

“Clearly we must act to help the economy as well the markets, in order to help create jobs and reduce the decline in home values. That’s why the House passed a bill last week to spend $60 billion quickly on a recovery plan for infrastructure and unemployment insurance. At a time of rising unemployment, it is unfortunate that President Bush opposes us and refuses to support our economic plan.

“We must continue to fight to get Americans working again. The financial bill we voted on today is necessary and we will keep working on it, but much more needs to be done quickly to help create jobs and grow the economy.”

# # #

***

“I voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act today to head off what could be one of the worst financial crises to face our country. I am disappointed that it did not pass today but I am confident Congress will be taking up this issue again just as quickly as is possible.

“We had an agreement on the bill between the House and Senate and the White House. More than half of the Democratic Caucus was committed to voting for this bill. It was our understanding that half of the House Republicans would support it as well. Democrats lived up to our end of the bargain -- in fact two thirds of our members voted for the bill. House Republicans did not deliver enough votes today – in fact only one third of House Republicans supported the President’s bill.

“The fact remains, however, that the serious problems plaguing our financial sector and our economy have not gone away. I remain fully committed to approving a bi-partisan solution to stabilizing the credit markets. I believe we are still on track to achieve such a bi-partisan solution.

“I supported this bill today because I believe the experts, such as the Treasury Secretary, the Fed Chairman, and many other economists, who have made it clear that we face one of the worst financial crises our country has ever seen; a crisis that will touch every American.

“This bill was an attempt to stabilize the credit markets because that is so important to fuel our economy. I did not support the bill because I wanted to help Wall Street. If this bill were just about Wall Street, given their behavior over the years, I wouldn’t walk across the street to save them. But this is really about our communities and families and people’s access to credit and jobs. And that is why I am fully committed to a solution.

“The ‘blank check’ plan the President presented to Congress over 10 days ago was unacceptable and we rejected it. We worked hard to craft a bi-partisan alternative that provided relief to the credit markets but also protected the taxpayer. I am disappointed that this alternative did not pass but I believe that a strong bill that protects the taxpayer and relieves the credit markets can and must pass soon.

“A collapse of our financial system would cripple the credit markets and prevent the economy from growing, hurting Americans’ ability to borrow at reasonable rates to make payroll at small businesses, invest in new equipment, borrow for college, take out a mortgage, start new businesses, or buy new cars. It would further erode savings in people’s pension accounts, retirement accounts, college accounts and other savings. It would hurt our ability to create new jobs. As we are seeing already in California, schools districts, counties, and cities are losing millions of dollars because of the collapse of Wall Street firms in which they invested.

“Americans are furious with the CEOs of Wall Street, and they have every right to be. Just as they should be furious with eight years of the Bush Administration and 12 years of the Republican-led Congress that did nothing but cut taxes for the rich, help Wall Street with deregulation, and provided no oversight from Washington.

“Clearly we must act to help the economy as well the markets, in order to help create jobs and reduce the decline in home values. That’s why the House passed a bill last week to spend $60 billion quickly on a recovery plan for infrastructure and unemployment insurance. At a time of rising unemployment, it is unfortunate that President Bush opposes us and refuses to support our economic plan.

“We must continue to fight to get Americans working again. The financial bill we voted on today is necessary and we will keep working on it, but much more needs to be done quickly to help create jobs and grow the economy.”

# # #

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, delivered the following statement today as the House considered an economic stimulus package to bolster the nation’s economy.

***
Madam Speaker, because our country urgently needs to create new jobs, provide vital relief for struggling families, and get our economy moving forward again, I rise in strong support of this economic stimulus bill, H.R. 7110.

Our economy needs two things, and we need them right now.

First, we must take steps to help restore confidence in the credit markets and the financial sector as a whole, because every American is affected by this worsening financial crisis and every American will be hurt if it gets worse.

Remember, we’re not just talking about propping up the stock market, even though the decline in the stock market clearly hurts tens of millions of Americans with pension funds, and retirement accounts. What we are attempting to do is revive the credit markets so that the economy can grow again, so that Americans can borrow at reasonable rates to make payroll at small businesses, invest in new equipment, borrow for college, take out a mortgage, start a new business, or buy a new car.

Credit is what fuels our economy and creates jobs and good incomes. The crisis that is allegedly just a Wall Street problem is a problem on every street in every small town and big city in our country. Whether people like to admit it or not, Wall Street and Main Street are joined at the hip. And we all share an interest in stepping up to the plate to help restore confidence in the credit markets in a manner that offers the greatest possible protections to the taxpayer and consumers and homeowners. That is what I am trying to help accomplish and I urge my colleagues to join together to do the same.

So, that is one thing we must do to help the economy now.

Secondly, to help the ailing economy we also must invest directly in new infrastructure – roads, bridges, mass transit, clean water, new schools – to get Americans working again.

More than 600,000 American workers have lost their jobs so far this year. The number of unemployed Americans is now at its highest level since 1992. Our nation has now faced 8 straight months of consecutive job losses. 1.6 million workers are looking for jobs. And last week, jobless claims rose to a seven-year high.

The economic stimulus package before us today will help to get our economy back on the road to recovery. It will yield immediate results for all Americans.

Our bill will help to get more Americans back to work by investing in infrastructure projects that can quickly generate good-paying jobs.

Our bill provides a long-overdue investment of $3 billion to repair crumbling schools across this country -- making classrooms safer, healthier, more modern and energy efficient places for children to learn -- while injecting demand into the construction industry.

Our bill provides much-needed support for millions of Americans who are out of work by extending unemployment benefits to help them cover their housing payments, grocery bill, and energy costs.

And our bill invests $500 million in job training programs to help these workers find and prepare for good jobs in the fast changing economy.

Look, we all know that the disastrous wild-west, go-go economic policies of the eight years of the Bush Administration have made our economy less stable, less fair for working Americans, and less resilient in the face of crisis. It has been a disaster for our country.

We have an obligation to take the economy in a new direction and we have an opportunity to start to do that with this stimulus bill.

Our stimulus package represents the right kind of economic policy – literally building a stronger country, investing in our children, investing in workers, and coming to the aid of struggling families.

This is an important step toward strengthening the nation’s middle class and strengthening the overall economy and I urge all my colleagues to support it.

# # #

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, delivered the following statement today as the House considered an economic stimulus package to bolster the nation’s economy.

***
Madam Speaker, because our country urgently needs to create new jobs, provide vital relief for struggling families, and get our economy moving forward again, I rise in strong support of this economic stimulus bill, H.R. 7110.

Our economy needs two things, and we need them right now.

First, we must take steps to help restore confidence in the credit markets and the financial sector as a whole, because every American is affected by this worsening financial crisis and every American will be hurt if it gets worse.

Remember, we’re not just talking about propping up the stock market, even though the decline in the stock market clearly hurts tens of millions of Americans with pension funds, and retirement accounts. What we are attempting to do is revive the credit markets so that the economy can grow again, so that Americans can borrow at reasonable rates to make payroll at small businesses, invest in new equipment, borrow for college, take out a mortgage, start a new business, or buy a new car.

Credit is what fuels our economy and creates jobs and good incomes. The crisis that is allegedly just a Wall Street problem is a problem on every street in every small town and big city in our country. Whether people like to admit it or not, Wall Street and Main Street are joined at the hip. And we all share an interest in stepping up to the plate to help restore confidence in the credit markets in a manner that offers the greatest possible protections to the taxpayer and consumers and homeowners. That is what I am trying to help accomplish and I urge my colleagues to join together to do the same.

So, that is one thing we must do to help the economy now.

Secondly, to help the ailing economy we also must invest directly in new infrastructure – roads, bridges, mass transit, clean water, new schools – to get Americans working again.

More than 600,000 American workers have lost their jobs so far this year. The number of unemployed Americans is now at its highest level since 1992. Our nation has now faced 8 straight months of consecutive job losses. 1.6 million workers are looking for jobs. And last week, jobless claims rose to a seven-year high.

The economic stimulus package before us today will help to get our economy back on the road to recovery. It will yield immediate results for all Americans.

Our bill will help to get more Americans back to work by investing in infrastructure projects that can quickly generate good-paying jobs.

Our bill provides a long-overdue investment of $3 billion to repair crumbling schools across this country -- making classrooms safer, healthier, more modern and energy efficient places for children to learn -- while injecting demand into the construction industry.

Our bill provides much-needed support for millions of Americans who are out of work by extending unemployment benefits to help them cover their housing payments, grocery bill, and energy costs.

And our bill invests $500 million in job training programs to help these workers find and prepare for good jobs in the fast changing economy.

Look, we all know that the disastrous wild-west, go-go economic policies of the eight years of the Bush Administration have made our economy less stable, less fair for working Americans, and less resilient in the face of crisis. It has been a disaster for our country.

We have an obligation to take the economy in a new direction and we have an opportunity to start to do that with this stimulus bill.

Our stimulus package represents the right kind of economic policy – literally building a stronger country, investing in our children, investing in workers, and coming to the aid of struggling families.

This is an important step toward strengthening the nation’s middle class and strengthening the overall economy and I urge all my colleagues to support it.

# # #