Pelosi: Congress, President Obama Committed to Aggressive Action to Lift Economy of Recession

Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement regarding this morning's Labor Department statistics showing that 651,000 American jobs were lost in the month of February, with the unemployment rate rising to 8.1 percent, the worst since December 1983.

"America's workers are facing record job losses and home foreclosures since the recession began in December 2007, but after years of economic mismanagement by the Bush Administration, help is on the way.

"Congress and President Obama acted swiftly on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to create or preserve 3.5 million jobs by making historic investments in health care, highways and bridges, education, science and innovation, clean, efficient energy and tax cuts for 95 percent of American workers.  The first installment of recovery grants to help rebuild our nation's crumbling bridges and highways have been announced and in some states, jobs are already being created or saved.

"Yesterday, the House passed major legislation to protect millions of Americans from losing their homes due to foreclosures and to strengthen the housing market, which is critical for economic recovery.  We will soon move forward with a budget that reflects our national priorities, invests in jobs, and cuts the deficit in half.

"The New Direction Congress is committed to working with President Obama to take sustained, aggressive action to lift our economy out of recession and to restore America's economic strength."