PFAW’s African American Ministers in Action applaud President Obama’s jobs plan and encourage Congress to pass it quickly.

In response to President Obama’s speech to Congress last night laying out his jobs plan, Minister Leslie Watson Malachi, Director of the African American Ministers in Action, issued the following statement.

“Last night, President Obama laid out a common sense plan to help put Americans back to work. Without a doubt, Congress should step up to the plate and pass this legislation without delay.

“Right now families across the country are struggling to make ends meet. Millions of men and women are being deprived of the basic dignity that comes with earning an honest day’s pay from an honest day’s work. For people who have been out of work for months, or even years, the challenge of finding a job gets harder every day, and in the African American community almost one-third of our young people are unemployed. For some, this situation is the result of the financial crisis, but for others the problem of finding a good job extends to much, much earlier.

“These are serious challenges, and President Obama has laid out a serious plan to deal with them. Our elected leaders in Washington have a choice. They can pass the President’s plan and help provide good jobs for people who are hurting, or they can continue to play politics at the expense of ordinary people.”