[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E371]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 931

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. PATSY T. MINK

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 9, 1999

  Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill 
important to all workers, H.R. 931.
  We no longer live in an era of one-company careers. Workers today 
change jobs with frequency. Oftentimes, these job changes are because 
of the worker's own choosing, however, just as often, they are not. In 
this era of downsizing and mergers, no one is safe from unemployment. 
Fortunately, Congress established the unemployment compensation system 
to provide temporary financial relief to workers who have lost their 
jobs. And it is a good thing it did. Last year, unemployment 
compensation was estimated to have helped 8.6 million workers who lost 
their jobs.
  H.R. 931 takes this important program and goes a step further to 
improve it. It allows individuals who left their jobs because of sexual 
harassment or the loss of child care to collect unemployment 
compensation.
  Sexual harassment is a widespread phenomenon. 42% of women and 15% of 
men have encountered some sort of sexual harassment in occupational 
settings. Despite the pervasive nature of this problem, only 1%-7% of 
victims file formal complaints. Oftentimes, sexual harassment results 
in low productivity and absenteeism. Although some victims may escape 
the problem simply by leaving their jobs, this option is not available 
for everyone. Unless one has money saved or another job lined up, it is 
hard to give up a steady pay check.
  My bill addresses this economic obstacle by giving victims of sexual 
harassment the option to leave their jobs and to collect unemployment 
compensation if they can show ``facts sufficient to establish a prima 
facie case'' that they were victimized by sexual harassment.
  In addition, H.R. 931 helps workers who leave employment because of 
the loss of child care by allowing them to collect unemployment 
compensation.
  The need for child care is a daily reality for millions of America's 
working families. As real wages have stagnated over the last decade, 
many families have adapted by having two wage earners per family. Also, 
over this same period, the number of children living in mother-only 
families has increased. As a result, more women with children are 
working. In 1997, 65% of women with children under the age of 6 were 
working compared to only 39% in 1975. Child care is critical for these 
millions of working families.
  If a working parent loses this child care, he or she has little 
choice but to stop working until new child care can be found. H.R. 931 
would help those parents by allowing them to collect unemployment 
compensation if they left their jobs because of the loss of adequate 
child care for a dependent child under the age of 12.
  The loss of child care places a tremendous strain on working parents. 
Although H.R. 931 does not relieve the stress over this loss, it does 
ease the financial strain placed on parents in this situation.
  I am proud to introduce H.R. 931 and I urge my fellow Members of 
Congress to join me in support of this bill. We must seize the 
opportunity to help workers trapped in these unfortunate situations.

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