mr. speaker , i thank the gentlewoman from tennessee ( mrs. blackburn )  for yielding .  i want to reiterate what our colleague from georgia has said .  we are grateful to you for the leadership you have provided in these special orders in trying to get the truth out about the issues .  our colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to think that by saying things that are not true , they can make them true .  i am glad that we have an opportunity to correct the record .  mr. speaker , this past monday , i had the great honor and privilege to host president george w. bush in north carolina 's 5th congressional district .  the president came to discuss our country 's impressive economic growth at the john deere-hitachi manufacturing plant in kernersville .  it is an honor to have many flourishing companies like deere-hitachi in the 5th district .  i am proud of this facility for being a model of how u.s. manufacturing companies can compete successfully in the global economy .  employment at deere-hitachi recently doubled in size to over 750 direct employees .  these are all good , high-skilled , well-paid jobs .  a portion of deere-hitachi 's growth has been fueled by the localization of models that were formerly produced in asia to kernersville , north carolina .  this has had a tremendously positive impact on our local economy .  thus , i am sure you can imagine how disturbed i was to hear that the political hacks over at the democratic national committee tried to twist the president 's visit to this highly successful plant into something negative .  the dnc chairman even had the audacity to ask , `` where are north carolina 's manufacturing jobs ?  `` shame on the democratic national committee for insulting north carolina 's thousands of highly skilled manufacturing workers who are driving our national economy .  the dnc 's remarks were a slap in the face to many hardworking men and women who work for successful north carolina manufacturing companies , manufacturers like dell , sara lee , american emergency vehicles , vaughn-bassett furniture , reynolds american , weyerhauser , and so many more that i can not begin to name them all .  we are making great strides and putting people to work , and all the democrats want to do is attack us .  american workers are the best in the world .  if we give our workers a level playing field and get the federal government off their back by cutting taxes and regulations , then the american worker can compete with and outperform anyone anywhere .  as you know , our country has had to endure some trying times during the past 5 years , many of which were beyond our control .  we have gone through a recession that began in the previous administration , the terrorist attacks of september 11 , 2001 , many terrible natural disasters and more .  however , we have persevered and we are prospering .  you have heard many facts already presented by my colleague from georgia , and you will hear many more , but the fact that we made it through these crises and have a booming economy is a real testament to the strength and diversity of the u.s. economy .  and it is a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of the american worker .  we all have a lot to be grateful to our president for .  under his watch , our economy is flourishing and getting stronger by the day .  in a report issued last week by the bureau of labor statistics , our economy created 215 , 000 new jobs during the month of november .  over 4.4 million jobs have been created since may 2003 , as has already been stated .  this latest jobs report is yet another indicator that our economy is thriving .  more americans are working than ever before in the nation 's history .  unemployment is down to 5 percent , which is lower than the average of the 1970s , 1980s , and 1990s .  this is due to the hard work of the american people and sound republican policies such as lower taxes , legal reform and less government influence in the lives of our nation 's entrepreneurs and small business owners .  these republican policies are working .  we are cutting taxes and letting people keep their hard-earned money , which they can invest back into our economy if they choose .  individual families know best how to spend their hard-earned money , not the federal government .  in addition to our nation 's job growth , our u.s. economy is showing other signs of expansion .  the u.s. gross domestic product growth of 4.3 percent is at its fastest pace since 2004 .  the gdp growth in the third quarter is one full point above the 3.3 percent rate .  further , our country is at the lowest rate of core inflation in more than 2 years .  the increase in the rate of inflation was lower than initial expectations with the price index of consumer spending rising 4.2 percent , compared with initial estimates of 3.7 percent .  in addition , the sales of new single family homes should be the largest 1 month gain in 12 years .  sales of new single family homes increased by 13 percent in october and pushed sales to an all-time high of 1.2 million units .  again , i am proud of president bush 's leadership and agenda for a strong economy .  my colleagues and i have a duty to keep this economic momentum going by making tax relief permanent and working against the democratic leadership 's efforts to raise taxes .  look for the democrats to continue their tired political attacks on the republicans ' effective economic policies , but do not hold your breath for them to come up with good ideas .  their only alternative is to tax , tax , and tax some more .  as we work to pass the tax relief extension reconciliation act of 2005 , i hope our democratic colleagues will join us in supporting this common-sense bill .  the future of america 's economic prosperity is at stake .  i look forward to working with president bush and the rest of my colleagues in congress to make tax relief permanent , exercise spending restraint and cut the federal deficit in half by 2009 .  again , i want to thank the gentlewoman from tennessee ( mrs. blackburn )  for her leadership in letting us present the facts to the american people , not the stories that are being told by our democratic colleagues .  