[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 126 (Tuesday, October 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9657-S9658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise to talk about hard-working 
Americans, their needs in our current economy, and the kind of 
obligations we owe to one another.
  I have the greatest respect for the ranking member on the Finance 
Committee. Senator Grassley is an extraordinarily effective advocate 
and Senator on behalf not only of the people from Iowa he represents 
but on behalf of Americans. Of course, we have a difference of opinion 
about what is the best thing to do to get the economy going, to start 
creating jobs, to put people back to work, and to make sure that the 
economic prospects are bright for our young people. That is an honest 
disagreement, but there could be no disagreement that we do, 
unfortunately, at this moment have what is called a jobless recovery.
  That is half right. I think the jobless part is right. I think the 
recovery part is a bit of a stretch. Unfortunately, many hard-working 
Americans, from New York City to Des Moines to San Francisco, have been 
unemployed through no fault of their own but through the downturn in 
the economy, through the economic impacts of the disastrous and 
horrible terrorist attacks we suffered. I think we owe something to 
these hard-working Americans. Every other Congress, every other 
administration, has recognized that obligation.
  When you do what you are supposed to, when you get up, you go to your 
job, and you do what you are asked to do to get the paycheck at the end 
of the week to support yourself and your family, that is what we want 
for all Americans. The goal of our economic policy in this wonderful 
free enterprise society that we cherish is to create enough jobs so 
everyone who is willing to work can work.
  Unfortunately, we now have rising unemployment, and 1.2 million 
Americans have exhausted the safety net that has always been there for 
people who lose their jobs. That is called unemployment insurance. 
Believe me, no one I know wants to be on unemployment insurance instead 
of having a job. It does not provide enough benefits. It does not take 
you anywhere. It is the dead end of all dead ends, but it does provide 
subsistence support for you and your family. I have been talking with 
so many of the Americans, especially New Yorkers, who are unemployed. 
That is what they tell me. They have been looking for work.
  The economy of the 1990s has receded. There are not enough jobs for 
the people who are looking for work. Many have told me heartbreaking 
stories of going to job fairs, of walking the streets, of answering 
every ad they can find, of absolutely making a nuisance of themselves 
to try to find some job opening to get working again. Unfortunately, 
there are not enough jobs right now.
  We have an honest disagreement in this Chamber about the best way to 
start creating jobs again. It will not surprise my colleagues that I 
come from the Clinton school of economics. We need a balanced approach. 
Stimulate the economy, have targeted tax cuts, pay down the debt, and 
make investments that will lead to our Nation being richer, safer, 
smarter, and stronger.
  The administration and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
have a different theory. Evidence does count for something. The 
evidence is on our side, not their side. Eventually

[[Page S9658]]

they will get around to recognizing that and we will go back to a 
sensible economic policy. In the meantime, honest, hard-working 
Americans should not bear the brunt for bad economic policies. They 
should not bear the brunt because the administration does not have an 
economic plan. We need to help them. We have the means to do so. We 
should act immediately.
  Around the country the headlines read: ``Prospects for Work Fade with 
Economy,'' ``Jobless Recovery,'' ``Help is Needed on the Home Front,'' 
``The Jobless Need the Helping Hand of Congress and the President.''
  In addition to no jobs for honest, hard-working people looking for 
jobs, the poverty rate has gone back up. For the first time in 8 years, 
the poverty rate increased by 1.3 million people. For families, that 
number increased by almost half a million. For the first time since 
1991 the median household income dropped by 2.2 percent. The DOW has 
had its worst September since 1937. The number of Americans who no 
longer have health insurance has increased by 1.4 million.
  How much more of a wakeup call do we need to penetrate the fog of 
ideology that sits over this Capitol? How much more information and 
evidence do we require to admit we have millions of Americans who are 
unemployed, on the brink of financial ruin because we are not giving 
them a helping hand? We can take steps right now to extend unemployment 
insurance. It may seem like a small step to some who are not 
unemployed. That is always the problem. We are sitting here with a 
cushy job, and we hear of people who do not have work, thinking good 
luck to them. That is inexcusable. Those fortunate enough to have a job 
to count on during a jobless recovery know there are a lot of people 
``there but for the grace of God go us.'' We should be there with a 
helping hand. It is not right to ignore their plight any longer.

  Many Americans are exhausting all of their unemployment benefits. 
That is understandable; we only extended it for 13 weeks. I keep 
thinking of the contrast between the recession of the early 1990s and 
this recession. In the early 1990s, former President Bush extended 
unemployment three times. And then President Clinton extended it twice 
until the economy began picking up and jobs began to be available 
again. I don't think we need to look any further than our own history 
of the past 10 years.
  When times get tough and people cannot find work because the economy 
is not creating jobs, that is what unemployment insurance is for. It is 
not only the right thing to do, it is also smart. It provides a direct 
stimulus into our economy. Every dollar we spend on unemployment 
insurance generates $2.15 in our gross domestic product. It puts into 
the hands of people who will spend that money immediately the means to 
pay their rent, to buy the food, to buy the school books, to pay the 
mortgage, to pay the car payment.
  I don't think there is any doubt that Americans are the hardest 
working people in the world. We do not take vacations like the rest of 
the developed world. We work longer hours. Some of us take more than 
one job in order to get ahead. It is the story of America. It is a 
great story. It is filled with optimism. It rests on the bedrock belief 
that hard work will pay off.
  Sometimes, through no fault of someone, something terrible happens, 
something unforeseen happens. A CEO of a major corporation starts 
looting the corporation to have a $100 million house or a $30 million 
boat. All of a sudden people are down the drain: Their jobs, their 
income, their pensions, their retirement security. They are unemployed. 
Sometimes the worst happens and the waiters and waitresses and janitors 
and maintenance people who got up every day and for years went to work 
at the World Trade Center see not just their jobs but their friends' 
lives and literally the buildings in which they work collapse.
  I am hoping we will extend benefits once again. We have only done it 
once. We have the money in the fund to pay for the right thing and the 
smart thing. We need to do it because so many of our unemployed will 
run out of benefits completely by the end of December. I am hoping this 
Congress will act to extend unemployment insurance and disaster 
unemployment assistance for an additional 13 weeks for all States and 
20 weeks for States such as New York that are suffering from high 
unemployment, much of it directly related to the attacks we also 
suffered. I don't think we should take another day. We should send a 
clear message that we care about the working men and women of this 
country. We care about their families. We are going to try to help them 
get back on their feet. We will give them the help they deserve because 
they paid into this fund. We just have to pull the trigger so it goes 
out to them in their time of need.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.

                          ____________________