Norton Seeks Answers to Help Unemployed Recent Graduates at Young, Educated and Unemployed Roundtable, Tonight

September 8, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC -- Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will hold a Roundtable this evening, entitled "Young, Educated and Unemployed: Keeping College Graduates from Becoming a Lost Generation" from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Busboys & Poets, 2021 14^th Street NW, to address the trend of unemployment among recent college graduates.  Experts will give their analysis of the current unemployment rate of Americans between the ages of 16 to 24, which, at almost 20 percent, is higher than the national average.  Congresswoman Norton will use what she learns at the Roundtable to assist recent graduates when Congress reconvenes next week.  Recent college graduates and the audience will be invited to testify as well.

Norton said, "We must help our young people find jobs.  The longer it takes for our young people to kick start their careers, the longer it will take them to catch up.  The setbacks these recent college grads are facing now means significant reduction in their lifetime income later."

Among those to testify include Robert H. Shriver, III, a Senior Policy Counsel at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Tony Pugh, an award-winning journalist who writes for McClatchy Newspapers on this subject; and Katherine Stahl, the Executive Director of American University's Career Center.  Elijah Harrison, a 2009 graduate of Bowie State University, and Ebony Lea, a graduate student at the University of Maryland College Park, will be the first recent graduates to testify, followed by members of the audience.

WHO: The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Robert Shriver, Tony Pugh, Katherine Stahl,

Elijah Harrison, and Ebony Lea

WHAT: Roundtable discussion - Young, Educated and Unemployed: Keeping College Graduates from

Becoming a Lost Generation

WHERE: Busboys & Poets, 2021 14^th Street NW

WHEN: Wednesday, September 8, 2010, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.