A Salute to Public Employees

Floor Speech

Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, my friends on the other side of the aisle are very fond of saying that government doesn't create jobs but only the private sector. But all you've got to do is talk to any small business person on any Main Street in America and ask them, if the police department didn't come out and make sure that they had a safe neighborhood, how would that affect their business? Or you can go to a trucking company and say, you know, if the roads and the bridges and the transportation network of this country were not in place, could you ship products if we didn't have an interstate highway system? They would tell you, obviously the government helps business. Obviously. This is so obvious that we have to state the obvious here on the floor of Congress.

This anti-government, anti-public sector, anti-public employee and worker attitude does not help our country. It sets us back, and it is wrong. And I, for one, want to salute the everyday heros--the cops, the firefighters, the teachers, the people who work on our roads, the people who make sure we have clean water and air to breathe.

Go for it, public employees. We're proud of you.

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