[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.
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