Jeff Sessions

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. The month before last? I reclaim the floor, Madam President. I was going to speak on another subject.

Mr. SESSIONS. We had--how many was it? I believe 240,000 jobs were created last month.

Mr. SESSIONS. March of this year was just a few months ago. It is not as if it were 5 years ago.

Mr. SESSIONS. I have not been disappointed for the last 6 months of job figures. There have been some tremendous numbers. What was the highest month we had this year? There were 300,000 or 400,000 jobs created in 1 month, and there was 1 where it was 100,000. I would like to see it stay at 200,000 or 300,000. Sure. The unemployment rate today is stable. But we did add jobs.

Mr. SESSIONS. Yes.

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I thank the distinguished Senator from Maryland. I know he is very skilled in his knowledge of these issues. I don't know how the President can be blamed for this or that, or how any President can be. I will just say this: When President Bush took office this economy was in trouble. In the first quarter he inherited there was negative growth; the second quarter was negative growth; the third quarter was 9/11. In the third quarter of former President Clinton's last year in office there was substantial negative growth, and one-half of the value of the NASDAQ stock exchange had been lost by the time President Bush took office. I will just say that he inherited a problem. And in the last 12 to 15 months, 1.9 million jobs have been created in this country. We had growth as high as 8 percent late last year for the third quarter, which is the highest growth in 20 years. Yes. We have challenges. Five and four-tenths percent unemployment is too high for me. It is a lot better than Europe. It is a lot better than most countries in the world. But it is not good enough. But I note this: The 5.4 percent unemployment rate that we have today, which we are working to improve, is better than the average unemployment rate of the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s. I hope we will continue to work on it here together in Congress, the President and everyone, to see what we can do to continue to help grow the economy. Certainly, if we don't have a growing economy we will not create jobs.

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I believe that is all I have. I yield the floor.

Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent that the committee substitute amendment be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 775, S. 2302.

Mr. SESSIONS. Maybe the Senator could read the last 3 or 4 months in job creation. Does he have them? There have been some pretty good months in there.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to consideration of H.R. 5294, which is at the desk.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3797 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee amendments be agreed to, that the amendments that are at the desk be agreed to, that the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table en bloc, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 619, S. 2386, the intelligence authorization bill.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate concur in the House amendment, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask the Chair lay before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives on the bill (S. 129) to provide for reform relating to Federal employment, and for other purposes. The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate concur in the House amendment, that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statement relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask the Chair lay before the Senate a message from the House of Representatives on the bill (S. 1194) to foster local collaborations which will ensure that resources are effectively used within the criminal and juvenile justice systems. The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives:

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, that the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements regarding this matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2976, which was introduced earlier today by Senators Hatch and Levin.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and that any statements relating to this measure be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be discharged from further consideration of S. 2571, and that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Feinstein substitute amendment at the desk be agreed to, the committee- reported substitute amendment, as amended, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements related to the bill be printed in the Record.