House Proceeding 03-31-09 on Mar 31st, 2009 :: 3:34:50 to 3:38:34
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3:34:47 to 3:35:08( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: the caucus and some of the core values of the people he represents in virginia. with that i yield to my friend from virginia. mr. desper because we have not had enough of a voice from either party standing up for the middle class and these basic values. i spent the weekend meeting with workers who recently been laid

3:34:50 to 3:38:34( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Thomas E. Petri

3:35:09 to 3:35:30( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: off as another factory had closed down and gone overseas. these are people who worked for 20, 30 years at a time. i talked constantly also to people who just recently gone through college, everything we are supposed to be encouraging right now in our society in order to compete in this global economy. but they come out shackled with so much debt from the cost of

3:35:31 to 3:35:51( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: college that they can't serve their community in the way that they had hoped to. people who wanted to become teachers and come back to rural communities like the ones in my district. but simply cannot afford to do it. we have gone from investing in a future middle class to crushing the current middle class because we start a cycle of debt. instead of coming out of college

3:35:52 to 3:36:13( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: with that opportunity and the world before you, you come out already in that kind of debt from college. and instead of those years that we used to spend saving money for a down payment to buy that first home, that next great step for middle class families, you spend those years instead spending all of your savings to get out of those loans.

3:36:14 to 3:36:34( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: so by the time you go to that -- to purchase that home, you may have zero down on that house. we all know how that story ends. we aren't giving people that opportunity to do the very things we need them to do, to save, to invest, to educate, to prepare themselves to compete in the global work force.

3:36:35 to 3:36:55( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: and the cycle of debt continues. then we have companies and predatory lenders coming out so that people continue to try to eke by month by month living from debt cycle to debt cycle. this is the new story of yesterday's middle class. it is time once again to have the kind of values in this

3:36:56 to 3:37:16( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: country that reward work and good behavior. reward the people who are saving and doing everything right to play by the rules. instead of investing -- instead of shifting our priorities too often away from the very people that are at the backbone of this country. believe this is a much needed effort to restore the middle class and one great place t

3:37:17 to 3:37:38( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: begin is by making college affordable. i'm proud we have already put forward a $2,500 tuition tax considered as read to the help middle class families afford that dream. we know that's not enough to go forward to make college affordable. but it's also something that's helping our displaced workers be able to go back and maybe pick up a community college course, move into the health care sector, another field where they

3:37:39 to 3:37:59( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: can earn a living wage to support their family. but they say to me, that's a two-year program. what am i going to do during those two years when i just lost my job? we are not in an economy that reflects -- we are not supporting policies that reflect the economy we now face. we no longer have an enomy where people he one job for 30

3:38:00 to 3:38:20( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: years and that company takes care of them. and last of fall i just want to mention why is it that through this recent economic crisis our community banks have remained rock solid in most of our communities? good main street values, main street capitalism that has continued to make good loans to good people, that still believes

3:38:21 to 3:38:34( Edit History Discussion )

Thomas E. Petri: in the honesty of a handshake and looking someone in the eye. this has remained solid while the speculators and others have played poker with our pension funds and future. it's time to start getting support back to those people who are at the bedrock of our