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NEW YORK (July 21, 2011) – In a meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office at the White House at 2 p.m. today, National Urban League President Marc H. Morial urged support for the Urban Jobs Act and other measures in the League's 12-Point Plan for Job Creation, and cautioned against deep budget cuts that could deepen the unemployment crisis.
Morial was joined in the meeting by NAACP President Benjamin Jealous.
"My concern is that a climate of artificial panic has been created around the debt ceiling vote, which could result in reckless, short-sighted budget-cutting that will only make the unemployment crisis worse," Morial said. "Solving the unemployment crisis could go a long way toward cutting the deficit and the national discussion must include direct job creation targeted at the areas with highest unemployment."
President Obama committed to further discussions on job creation after the current debt ceiling debate is resolved.
Morial noted that a study by the National Urban League’s Policy Institute found that “job surge” legislation could reduce the federal budget deficit by $310 billion.
"It only makes sense that working Americans are taxpaying Americans, they are shopping, spending Americans, they are Americans who are creating the demand that will stimulate the economy and spur business growth," Morial said. "Putting people back to work isn't simply the right thing to do for the 14 million unemployed, but for the economic recovery as a whole."
The Urban Jobs Act, sponsored by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns, will provide federal grant funding to non-profit organizations to offer job training, education and other support services for urban youth and young adults.
The Act is one of the measures included in the National Urban League's 12-Point Plan for Job Creation, which also recommends developing a National Public-Private Jobs Initiative to create jobs and train urban residents to stimulate economic growth; boosting minority participation in information and communication technology; reforming, revising and reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act; creating Green Empowerment Zones in areas of high unemployment; expanding small business lending; and creating an Urban Homesteading Program. The full plan can be found here.
