[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 28 (Wednesday, March 13, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S1855]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   ECONOMIC STIMULUS--SENATE PASSAGE

  Mr. ALLEN. Madam President, it is with great relief that I rise today 
in commendation for approval of the ``Job Creation and Worker 
Assistance Act of 2002,'' which I believe represents a job security, 
job creation and balanced response by the Federal Government to the 
economic challenges faced by families and businesses. With the signing 
of this Act into law, on March 9, 2002, by the President, Americans 
finally received the economic stimulus relief that should have been 
passed many months ago.
  During the past months, all Americans have been deluged with grim 
news of recessions, plummeting consumer confidence and rising 
unemployment. Last March, which is widely believed to be the beginning 
of the current recession, unemployment totaled 6.2 million, or 4.3 
percent. Just under a year later, February unemployment rate equaled 
5.5 percent, a number representative of the 1.4 million jobs lost since 
March of last year.
  These numbers represent much more than just mere statistics, the 5.5 
percent represents 7.9 million people who are without a job, a steady 
paycheck and the security of knowing that bills will be paid and food 
will be on the table. Even more worrisome for many families is that 
they have begun to exhaust their State unemployment benefits: in 
January 2002 alone, 373,000 displaced workers ran out of the financial 
support they need to simply survive as they look for a job.
  This is why ending the obstruction by passage of the Job Creation and 
Worker Assistance Act of 2002 is so important. This bill not only 
includes targeted tax incentives that will increase capital investment 
and spending, ensuring that the weak recovery underway will not be 
derailed, but it provides the economic security the families of 
displaced workers so desperately need to get by until new jobs can be 
found.
  I would like to take this opportunity to talk briefly about two 
provisions that I am particularly pleased are included in the economic 
stimulus package.
  First, this recession is notable for the sharp plummet in the level 
of capital investment in new equipment and technologies by companies, 
coupled with a decrease in consumer demand. Until such capital 
expenditures increase, our economy will not fully recover from the 
recession.
  Accelerated depreciation is a top priority of Virginia's and 
America's technology industry. It will spur capital expenditures for 
new advanced equipment and technology. This incentive will create and 
save more jobs for working men and women involved in producing, 
creating, fabricating and transporting such capital equipment from 
computers and construction equipment to airplanes and locomotives.
  By providing for a 30-percent bonus depreciation rate over a 3-year 
period, the economic stimulus package will encourage enterprising 
businesses and people to invest and grow, promoting capital 
expenditures that would not have occurred but for the passage of this 
act, eventually increasing job growth and consumer spending.
  Second, the bill includes a provision, similar to legislation I 
introduced in September 2001, which provides displaced workers with an 
additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits after they have exhausted 
their State-provided unemployment benefits.
  Recently, we have received good news on the economy and the prospects 
of its recovery from the recession. February was the first month in 
which jobs were added since July 2001, and the unemployment rate is 
finally beginning to inch down from its high of 5.8 percent in December 
2001.
  Yet, even with the good news, Chairman Greenspan is still maintaining 
his earlier forecast of relatively weak economic growth in 2002 of 
between 2.5 percent and 3 percent. It will take time for the economy to 
fully recover and to create the jobs that will get workers back on the 
payrolls. News of eventual recovery is of little relief for the 1.4 
million workers who have exhausted their unemployment benefits since 
September 2001.
  Without the immediate financial life-line that the additional 13 
weeks of benefits provides, these families, at the minimum, risk 
ruining their credit ratings and, in the worst-case scenario, could 
lose their home or car.
  Hard-working Americans, facing such a harrowing situation, ought to 
have a response to help them get through the early stages of the 
economy recovery until jobs become more readily available and workers 
can provide for their families. The 13 weeks of extended benefits 
provides the temporary financial assistance for displaced workers to 
get back on their feet and successfully get a new job.
  In sum, the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 is the 
appropriate combination of immediate financial relief and security to 
American families and tax incentives for businesses to make the capital 
investments necessary for economic growth and job creation. I am 
confident that the new opportunities made available with the passage of 
this act will go a long way toward ensuring a more secure future for 
American working men, women and families.

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