[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 118 (Wednesday, September 18, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8714-S8715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT INSURANCE

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished majority 
leader for his excellent presentation with respect to the state of our 
economy. He has described in very straightforward terms the serious 
economic problems we confront: weak economic growth, rising job losses, 
declining business investment, a falling stock market, eroding consumer 
confidence, and a deteriorating Federal Government fiscal position.

[[Page S8715]]

  Just this morning, the Wall Street Journal reported:

       What looked like a brief dip in economic activity a month 
     ago looks increasingly like a protected slowdown. . . . The 
     Federal Reserve said Tuesday that industrial production 
     fell 0.3 percent in August from July, the first decline 
     since December, when the recession was ending.

  The majority leader made a compelling case, in my view, for focusing 
the attention of the Congress and the President on the urgent economic 
challenges we confront at home, as well as the significant security and 
foreign policy challenges we confront abroad.
  I wish to take a few moments to focus briefly on a very pressing 
economic challenge that is before us right now and which ought to be 
addressed before the end of the year: the problem of the long-term 
unemployed and the need to extend unemployment insurance benefits. I 
urge the administration to submit to the Congress a proposal for the 
extension of unemployment insurance benefits.
  On September 9, the New York Times ran a front page story entitled, 
``Long-Term Jobless Rose by 50 Percent Last Year.'' The article 
stated--and I now quote from it--

       . . . the number of people who have been jobless for months 
     has climbed to a level more typical of a deep downturn. 
     Almost three million people nationwide have been out of work 
     for at least 15 weeks, up more than 50 percent from a year 
     ago. Half of them have not worked for at least 6 months. 
     Another million Americans appear to have dropped out of the 
     labor force in each of the past two years, no longer looking 
     for work or counted as unemployed. . . . Many people who have 
     not worked in months have begun spending retirement savings 
     that were already diminished by the stock market's fall. 
     Others are considering low-wage jobs at a fraction of their 
     old pay. In either case, their stretches of unemployment 
     could define their financial futures for years.

  It goes on to say:

       Many unemployed people . . . see little sign that companies 
     will soon begin hiring in large numbers. And some are growing 
     increasingly nervous because unemployment benefits that were 
     extended . . . will expire soon.

  I want to make a very simple but important point in light of this 
rise in the long-term unemployed and the challenge that it presents. I 
strongly urge the administration to address it and to send the proposal 
to the Congress.
  We extended the unemployment compensation program earlier this year 
to provide an additional 13 weeks beyond the basic 26 weeks. But this 
program is scheduled to end on December 31 of this year, which means 
that someone who is then in the 27th week of their benefits at the end 
of 2002 could receive no further unemployment benefits. This program is 
scheduled to end at the very time when the number of long-term 
unemployed is not coming down, but is increasing.
  The projections on the unemployment front are not encouraging. The 
CBO predicts the unemployment rate will remain near 6 percent until the 
second half of next year. When we enacted the extension, it was at 5.7 
percent. Unemployment is projected to stay high well into next year, 
while the extension is scheduled to expire on December 31 of this year.
  Now, in previous recessions--and it is important to note this--we 
extended the increase in the time period to collect unemployment 
benefits. Back in the recession of 1990-1991, unemployment benefits 
were extended five separate times. In fact, not only were they 
initially extended by 13 to 20 weeks but then the period was lengthened 
again to between 52 and 59 weeks. I am very frank to tell you I think 
we have to confront this situation.
  States are reporting larger increases in the exhaustion of 
unemployment benefits during this recession than during the last 
recession. So for those people who have been thrown out of work--and I 
am not going to go through the litany of it; much of it has hit the 
dot-com industry--they either have or are close to having exhausted 
their unemployment benefit payments. They are going to be in even 
deeper trouble once they cross that threshold and exhaust their 
unemployment benefit payments.
  I am not seeking anything that is out of the ordinary in terms of 
past experience, but I think these benefits must be extended.
  Let me make one final point. The temporary provision of additional 
Federal benefits to the unemployed, in the wake of economic downturns, 
has long served a dual purpose. Beyond providing needed income support 
to those whose spells of unemployment are lengthened by recessionary 
conditions, it is also very well designed to give the economy a boost.
  Unemployment benefits are quickly injected into the economy. Benefits 
can be paid immediately through the existing unemployment insurance 
system. They are targeted to areas where the downturn has hit the 
hardest. They go to areas with large concentrations of newly unemployed 
who qualify for benefits. They stimulate demand where it has 
deteriorated the most. They are very effective in boosting the economy. 
And, of course, they come to the rescue of people who have found 
themselves out of work and are under extreme stress in order to meet 
the financial demands of supporting themselves and often their family 
as well.
  So we need to extend unemployment benefits. We need to fill in the 
weaknesses in the system. We need to give the people who have lost 
their jobs, and are now confronting a very severe situation, some 
support in these trying circumstances.
  We have extended unemployment benefits before repeatedly. It has 
worked. It has been seen to work. We need to do so again. I very 
strongly urge the administration to face this challenge and to send to 
the Congress--promptly and immediately--a proposal with respect to 
unemployment insurance benefits that would help to assure that the 
millions of people across the country, who already have or may in the 
future exhaust their unemployment benefits, will not find themselves 
without any income support at the same time that they are confronting 
an economy in which job restoration is not taking place.
  If job restoration were taking place, and the economy was on the 
upswing, and one could reasonably say to people, well, opportunities 
are returning and, therefore, you can find work. But that is not what 
is happening. You have people facing an economy which is softening, as 
the Wall Street Journal reported just this morning, as they said, 
``What looked like a brief dip in economic activity a month ago looks 
increasingly like a protracted slowdown. . . .''
  We must at a minimum provide this assistance.
  I yield the floor.

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