Rep. Kennedy on moral capitalism

Mister Speaker this administration continues to tell us that our economic recovery is chugging along but it's even been hyper charged under President Trump They say that there's well over Seven million seven and a half million unfilled jobs in six million people looking for work that wages are beginning to pick up Stock market has reached record highs and unemployment record lows So why are our constituents celebrate saving and spending at equally historic rates Speaker? Everyone in this chamber knows what I'm talking about. They can feel it What does it all seem so fragile like this country is walking on economic eggshells because that's how it feels to American families every single day Because in today's America you can work a 12 hour shift seven days a week year after year Getting one car accident on your way home from work and end up bankrupt Because the cost of a College education is leaving a generation of graduates with a high interest mortgage without the House Because the cost of childcare is becoming even more unaffordable than that College degree Because the cost of a two bedroom apartment swallows up the income of a full time minimum wage worker in every single neighborhood in our country Because nearly 40 percent of Americans can't afford an unexpected $400 medical and skyrocketing pharmaceutical costs are forcing families to open. Go fund me pages to keep their kids alive Just over a decade after hitting rock bottom our economy is still sick for a very simple reason We have it correctly diagnosed the cause of that illness We're comforted by the improvement of external symptoms like stock prices and unemployment rate Meanwhile our economy's heart is in dire streets Small businesses are shuttered Factories are fleeing Family farms are closing in once prosperous American towns are barely scraping by To blame for this chronic illness is a system that is riddled away protection opportunity Justice and dignity for the American worker Our workers rise like their parents before them early They work hard to provide for their family We're well into the night Skipped lunch breaks the different vacations to trade with coworkers to take an overtime shift all to care for the ones that they love And get the job that they hold won't even allow for that The whole point of a job is to earn a living and make a life To contribute to something purposeful to be able to provide for your loved ones in return If American jobs can't meet the needs of Americans then what is the point How would the greatest economy in the world possibly endure if its people can't keep up Speaker I been a story a few weeks ago but a few local home depot employees that built a Walker for little boy who's parents were not certain that insurance would cover a proper one Just yesterday New sites blasted the story of a nine year old little boy in California who used his own allowance to pay off the lunch debt of his classmates The goodness of those workers of those children is incredible and thank God. We have people like them among us But a moral adjust a fair and accountable a decent economy wouldn't call those stories heartwarming but heartbreaking a damning indictment of a system that bars countless Americans of basic necessity particularly in their moments of deepest need A moral capitalism would put quality on the same page as quantity when just ask for integrity and decency from the public and private sectors running our economic show It would demand it with laws that work in tandem to guarantee that when our kids get sick we can take care of them They would a roof falls We can repair it on her stomach ache We can fill them When we tire that we can rest just Speaker that shouldn't be too much for anyone to ask you The chair recognizes the Gentlewoman from Massachusetts Miss Presley for