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April 8: The Joint Economic Committee (JEC), chaired by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, released a report today, requested by Vice Chair Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, calling for the extension of unemployment insurance benefits to combat the contracting labor market. Friday’s release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Report revealed an jump in the unemployment rate and the third consecutive month of job losses for the first time in five years. With the number of UI beneficiaries exhausting their claims already on the rise and no end in sight to the current economic downturn, the report argues that past Republican obstructionism must be overcome in order to provide extended UI benefits for those in need. |
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March 13: U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC),held a hearing on the Economic Outlook for the United States with Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Ben Bernanke, on April 2, 2008 at 9:30 am in Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Chairman Bernanke provided his first Congressional testimony following the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and recent announcement that the Fed will inject $200 billion into the credit market. While a key question was whether the U.S. is already in a recession or heading into one, the JEC explored additional measures to address this serious financial crisis. |
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March 19: Today, the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, Senator Charles E. Schumer and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Chairman and Vice-Chair of the Joint Economic Committee respectively, sent a letter to President Bush urging him to give a full account of the total costs of the war. Schumer and Maloney called for a productive debate over the economic impact of the war; and they asked the President to make a member of his administration available in the coming weeks to testify at a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee to provide Congress and the American people with a “better understanding of the current and future budgetary and economic costs of the war in Iraq.” |
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March 25 : Today new economic indicators showed that the U.S. economy is continuing to falter and
not only are home prices still sinking, but consumer confidence is following suit. The
S&P/Case-Shiller index reported the biggest drop in home prices, 11.4 percent in
January, since the index was created in 1987, and continuing 19 consecutive months of
home price declines. Virtually no major metropolitan area was left unscathed according
to the Case-Shiller analysis for January. The Conference Board's measure of consumer
confidence fell much more than expected as well, going down double digits from
February to March.
Senator Charles E. Schumer, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee reacted with
the following statement about today's weak economic news: "Newfound weakness in consumer confidence is partially the result of 19 months of
falling home prices in nearly every single corner of the United States. For the last
year, the President and his Republican allies in Congress have chosen a hands-off,
Hoover-like posture towards this housing crisis. It is long passed time for
Washington to act. Democrats in the Senate will have a modest and targeted
housing recovery bill on the floor next week and we hope the White House will work
with us to pass it quickly.
“We hope President Bush stops whistling a happy tune about this economy while
homeowners and consumers across the country are singing the blues." |
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Schumer on the Iraq War's 5th Anniversary and Its Backbreaking Costs
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March 18: On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, released the following statement praising the troops and questioning the enormous costs of the war to our budget and overall economy:
"On the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, this Administration still has no clear exit strategy for our troops, no path to political reconciliation, and no accounting of the costs to our budget or economy. . . For the amount the Bush Administration wants to spend PER DAY in Iraq, over $430 million we could . . ." |
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March 6: Today Sen. Charles E. Schumer, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released a state-by-state analysis showing that subprime mortgages in foreclosure have increased from the third to the fourth quarter last year in EVERY state, and prime mortgages in foreclosure have increased in all but two states (Montana and South Dakota).
"Foreclosures are spreading from one end of the nation to the other and from the subprime to the prime mortgage markets.” Schumer said. “The record number of foreclosures from coast to coast demands quick action from Washington. Unless the administration and its Republican allies in Congress drop their opposition to a meaningful housing stimulus bill, this foreclosure and housing crisis will only get worse and property values will continue to deteriorate." |
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March 5 : The Joint Economic Committee today released a report, requested by Vice Chair Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), finding that three-quarters of Fortune 100 companies offer mothers some form of paid leave when they have a new child, typically lasting six to eight weeks. Family leave has become an increasingly important workplace policy because most families no longer have a stay-at-home parent to provide care for a new child and they often cannot afford to take unpaid leave. As a guide for policymakers, the Joint Economic Committee examined how firms design their paid family leave policies by asking Fortune 100 companies about the length of paid leave that they provide for new parents.
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February 21: Yesterday, Sen. Charles Schumer sent a letter to Commerce Secretary, Carlos Gutierrez, urging the Bush administration to keep the EconomicIndicators.gov website open to the public and the information on it free. Today our office received a phone call saying that the site would continue operations due in part to Schumer's letter, and www.economicindicators.gov contains an affirming message that it will continue to keep its website and email alerts going due to public outcry.
Schumer congratulated the administration for making the right decision and said, "The administration took the right step in keeping this important economic indicators website and email alerts free and open to the public. This is no time to pull back on the free flow of critical information about our quick-changing economy, and I'm glad the administration agrees that shutting down this website would be penny wise, but pound foolish." |
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Washington, D.C. – Senator Charles E. Schumer and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, the Chairman and Vice Chair of the Joint Economic Committee respectively, responded to the 2008 Economic Report of the President (ERP), delivered to Congress today. The report, authored by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, summarizes the Administration’s views on the state of the United States economy. The report reviews the last year of economic data and projects the economic health of our country in the future. |
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February 13: U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), convened the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) to examine increased investment by foreign-government controlled funds, known as sovereign wealth funds. The hearing entitled, “Do Sovereign Wealth Funds Make the U.S. Economy Stronger or Pose National Security Risks?” was held Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 2:00pm in Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. A top Treasury Department official and experts on sovereign wealth investments offered their views on the benefits and risks associated with investment in the United States by these funds. Schumer also asked witnesses for their best recommendations to ensure U.S. economic and national security. |
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Febryary 4: The Bush Administration released its budget for Fiscal Year 2009. The Joint Economic Committee has analyzed what this budget means for some important and popular programs for each of the 50 states plus Washington D.C. While there are thousands of programs that may have been slashed, level-funded, eliminated, or bolstered, the JEC has chosen a handful to show the big impact these cuts have on each state. |
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January 25: U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), will hold a hearing on the newly released Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) monthly employment figures with Commissioner Keith Hall on Friday, February 1, 2008 at 9:30 am in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 106. The hearing, entitled “The Employment Situation in January 2008” will address the new jobs report and previously weak jobs reports in light of a potential recession. The hearing will also address chronically-low job creation during this administration and examine revisions to payroll figures for the past several years to be made that morning. With a recession looming and the unemployment rolls growing, Dr. Hall is expected to provide insight on labor market trends and conditions in a deteriorating economy. |
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January 16 : U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) convened a Joint Economic Committee (JEC) hearing to examine targeted economic policies for fending off the predicted recession. The hearing entitled, “What Should the Federal Government Do to Avoid a Recession?” was held on January 16, 2008 at 9:30 am in the Hart Senate Office Building, Room 216. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers testified at the first Congressional committee hearing this year on his assessment of the deteriorating economic conditions in the country and his views on targeted, timely and temporary measures to help middle class families weather a likely recession. Sen. Schumer is the Chairman of the JEC and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) is the Vice Chairman. |
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UPCOMING COMMITTEE SCHEDULE |
NEXT HEARING:
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9:30AM, Wednesday, April 2, 2008 |
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January - March 2008 |
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