June 17. 2010 2:32PM
Full remarks by Labor Secretary Solis to UAW
The Detroit News
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis spoke to the United Auto Workers convention today. Her prepared remarks:
The UAW has been actively involved in the struggle for civil rights, women’s rights, voting rights, and the Fair Housing Act.
Today, you are fighting for better schools for our kids, pensions for retirees, clean air and water, tougher workplace health and safety standards, stronger worker’s compensation and unemployment insurance laws and fairer taxes.
And you were instrumental in helping us get health insurance reform passed!
Because of your efforts, millions of Americans and their families will no longer be denied coverage because pre-existing conditions.
This bill will help my father and other seniors by closing the Medicare Part D doughnut hole.
These are issues that I have fought for my entire career.
You see, like many of you I come from a union home.
My parents showed me the value of a hard day’s work ... they taught me to fight against injustices in the workplace and in my community.
I am proud to be the daughter of a Teamster Shop Steward and a Steel Worker.
I am proud to have walked the picket line, proud to have fought for workers and women’s rights, and I am proud and humbled to be your labor secretary.
I don’t have to tell you that there were and unfortunately still are millions of workers and their families struggling in one of the most difficult economic situations that our nation has confronted.
The Great Recession, as some are calling it, had a severe impact on far too many families across the country.
But, thanks to President Obama, he pushed for the Recovery Act, which helped us gain 431,000 jobs last and lowered the unemployment rate from 10 percent to 9.7 percent.
This marks the fifth straight month that we have had job growth.
“But, thanks to President Obama, he pushed for the Recovery Act, which ... lowered the unemployment rate from 10 percent to 9.7 percent.”
This woman is bragging about how, after spending $87 billion (or whatever it was) on the “Stimulus Plan,” all Obama has to show for it is a reduction of 0.3% in the unemployment rate to a still ridiculously high 9.7% (and only after artificially creating hundreds of thousands of temporary Census jobs). Every Republican candidate across the nation should use this quote from Solis in their ads.