Barbara Lee: High Unemployment Rate Underscores the Need to Leave Afghanistan
Media Contact: Joel Payne, (202) 225-2661
Washington, DC – Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) released the following statement today in reaction to the April jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
“Our economy is moving in the right direction, but today’s job report is just the latest sign that more needs to be done for every community to experience a full economic recovery. The national unemployment rate remains too high and the rate is even higher in communities of color. The unemployment rate is 16.1% in the African-American community, the highest this year, and it’s 11.8% in the Hispanic community, the highest since January.
“Instead of working with Democrats to create jobs, foster new economic opportunities and create pathways out of poverty, Republicans have wasted our time on the House floor to push their extreme social agenda. Republicans need to show the leadership on job creation that they promised. And we need to extend emergency aid to displaced workers who have hit the 99 week ceiling on unemployment benefits as we continue to create new jobs in every community, especially in communities of color.
“This report is also a timely reminder of why the President should use this opportunity, now that Osama bin Laden is gone, to begin a significant and sizeable reduction of U.S. troops in Afghanistan in July. We cannot afford to keep spending over $100 billion a year fighting an endless war in Afghanistan as we neglect important priorities here at home.”
Follow Barbara Lee on Twitter @RepBarbaraLee
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