[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 21, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H4520-H4525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
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UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ose). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings)
is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
General Leave
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks on the subject of my special order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Maryland?
There was no objection.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, tonight the Congressional Black Caucus
comes together to address this House because we are very concerned
about many Americans who may be watching us at this very moment who do
not have a job. As a matter of fact, Mr. Speaker, there are about 8.8
or 8.9 million of them. We come to talk about them because we want
them, Mr. Speaker, to know that we care about them, and we care about
what happens to their families.
Mr. Speaker, the temporary Federal unemployment benefits program that
we passed not very long ago will expire on May 31. In just 10 days, Mr.
Speaker, thousands of Americans will lose their unemployment benefits,
and then approximately 80,000 more will lose their benefits weekly.
Since the beginning of President Bush's administration, our economy
has lost over 2.5 million jobs. Mr. Speaker, that is a lot of jobs, 2.5
million. We must understand that these are not just numbers or some
statistical phenomenon that I am talking about. These are real,
everyday Americans who have lost their jobs and who, after next week,
will not be able to feed their children, pay their bills, or provide
for their most basic needs.
Mr. Speaker, I speak with my constituents every day, since my
district is close to Washington and I commute to and from Baltimore on
a daily basis. The constituents I represent are very, very worried, as
are millions of Americans around the country.
Last Monday morning, any commuter driving near my Baltimore office
would have noticed a long line at around 8 o'clock in the morning
curling around the building called the Fifth Regiment Armory.
From the appearance of the line, one could have easily thought it was
a group of music fans waiting in line to buy tickets to some concert.
However, this was not the case at all. These individuals were in line
to attend my Seventh District Job Fair that I host in Baltimore every
year. They got up early to meet with 50 regional employers who have
vacancies despite a rough economy.
I might add, Mr. Speaker, that normally we would have 120 employers,
but the fact is that many employers said that they have no jobs to
give.
One of the other things we were trying to get, Mr. Speaker, was
employers who offered health insurance benefits. Many of the employers
who had participated in the past said that they had to drop those
benefits because of the economy, so we ended up with 50 employers.
Throughout the day, my job fair brought about 3,000 job seekers to
meet with these employers. But compared with recent years, most of the
people who attended the job fair this year were there because they had
been laid off.
In the past, when I would interview people throughout the day in the
job fair, I would often find that they were people who had a job who
were just merely trying to get a better job, or they were people who
had two jobs and they were trying to get a job that paid enough money
so they would only have one job, or it was someone who was in a
situation where they had no health benefits and they were trying to get
a job with health benefits.
Ninety percent of the people that I interviewed said something to the
effect that they got laid off from a job that they never, ever expected
to be laid off from. They went on to say that they anticipated that
they would be out of work for a few weeks, and many of them had been
out of work for 5, 6, 7 months.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure that this scene that I witnessed and this
testimony that I heard last week at my job fair is not unique. I would
not be surprised if other job fairs had record attendance, as mine did,
and that people were saying the same kinds of things.
My point, Mr. Speaker, is that when presented with opportunities,
Americans want to work. When presented with the opportunity, they want
to work. But until the economy turns around and people can find work,
Mr. Speaker, unemployment benefits are all these Americans have to make
ends meet.
So I ask Members to join us in calling upon every Member of this
Congress to demand that they join us in passing H.R. 1652, the
Unemployment Benefits Extension Act, that I have joined my colleague,
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), in cosponsoring.
This bill, H.R. 1652, would extend the Temporary Federal Unemployment
Insurance Program by 6 months and would extend the number of additional
weeks of Federal unemployment benefits from 13 weeks to 26 weeks.
This Congress must take action as soon as possible. The American
people have a right to ask whether President Bush and our Republican
colleagues in Congress will help the millions of Americans whose
benefits will expire on May 31.
I might add a footnote, Mr. Speaker, that the new numbers will come
out on June 6. At that time, we anticipate that the numbers will be
even higher, somewhere in the area of 3 million jobs having been lost
since President Bush became President.
The fact is that the Republican majority refused to include any
extension of benefits in the tax bill that passed the House, and the
majority has shown no signs that they will extend unemployment
insurance before it expires. I should add, Mr. Speaker, that we are
proposing to help American workers who are out of jobs through no fault
of their own. They want to work. Extending unemployment benefits is a
proven strategy for stimulating our economy.
The Republicans seem, Mr. Speaker, to have decided that, instead of
helping unemployed workers, they should give the average millionaire
nearly $100,000 in tax breaks. Something is simply wrong with that
picture. I hope that we who are privileged to serve the people of
America in this Congress of the United States of America will change
that harsh and unproductive picture by passing H.R. 1652.
Lastly, Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. Ending unemployment
compensation does not provide incentive for Americans to find invisible
jobs. Instead, extending unemployment compensation increases demand for
goods and services and serves to create real jobs for those Americans
who are able and willing to work.
So, Mr. Speaker, I am troubled when some people begin to compare
unemployment compensation to an entitlement. Is it not the government's
responsibility to provide these benefits when the economy is weak? Was
the unemployment trust fund not established to accomplish this very
purpose, to cushion the financial blow to average Americans during
times of recession and joblessness? Mr. Speaker, the answer to both
questions is a resounding yes.
It gives me great honor and great privilege, Mr. Speaker, to
recognize my colleague, the gentlewoman from the great State of
California (Ms. Lee), who has consistently synchronized her conscience
with her conduct. She has consistently made it clear that she stands up
for the people who cannot stand up for themselves, stands up for those
who may be down and out, and stands up for those who think that they
are not being heard. But tonight she stands up for so many people who
are unemployed, who simply want to work.
[[Page H4521]]
Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend, the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Lee).
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, first let me thank the gentleman from Maryland
(Mr. Cummings) and our Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus for his
kind and humbling remarks, and for his leadership on each and every
issue that we are faced with here in our great country. I just want to
thank him again for his consistent leadership and also for ensuring
that we have an opportunity to talk to America every now and then on
the issues that are burning, and actually what the realities are of
what we are doing here and what we are not doing. I thank the gentleman
for allowing our caucus and other Members of Congress to really speak
truth to power.
Mr. Speaker, first, let me just say how grave my concerns are about
this Bush administration's economic policy and how it will truly
devastate American families. We see a strategy at work in the Bush
budget and in the tax cuts for the wealthy that are really at its
center. And, yes, to me it looks like class warfare. That is what it
looks like.
At the end of this month, we are going to see the devastating effects
of the Bush economic strategy with the expiration of the unemployment
insurance program. On the last day of this month, the Temporary
Extended Unemployment Compensation Program will expire. It is going to
expire, even though we Democrats have pushed for an extension of this
program, and for an additional 13 weeks of benefits, for a total of 26
weeks of Federal extended unemployment benefits both to workers who
have already exhausted their benefits and to workers who will be laid
off in the coming months.
Without this extension, an estimated 80,000 unemployed workers
nationwide each week, that is 80,000 each week, will lose their
benefits. That is hard to imagine. The number is so high because we are
at a record level of unemployment; and we are, to be quite frank, in a
jobs depression. In the last 3 months, the economy has lost 500,000
jobs. Since the beginning of President Bush's Presidency, the economy
has lost 2.5 million private sector jobs. That is quite an
accomplishment.
In fact, unless President Bush somehow adds 2.5 million jobs in the
next few months, he will be, I believe, the first President since they
started actually keeping labor records who has failed to net a single
job. In an economy that has historically been the strongest in the
world, the President has not been able to net one job. That is pretty
pitiful.
In my congressional district, we have over 75,000 unemployed workers.
Beginning June 1, an estimated 1,400 workers will lose unemployment
benefits each week. That is just in my congressional district, the 9th
Congressional District of California. That number will be on top of the
10,000 workers in the region who have already lost their benefits.
These are horrible numbers. Yet in spite of the fact that families are
struggling to pay rent and buy food, the President and the Republicans
have done nothing, and I mean nothing, to help these workers.
They claim to have an economic stimulus package, but for them,
economic stimulus means tax cuts. If you have lots of capital gains,
then of course you will like the Bush tax cuts. If you are one of the
wealthiest Americans, then of course, yes, you, too, will like the Bush
tax cuts.
Members cannot tell me that in a tax package of almost $550 billion
there is not enough money to extend unemployment benefits to people who
do not have dividends or capital gains, but are just trying to
basically pay their rents, buy groceries, and take care of their
families.
For the life of me, I am trying to figure out how does a tax cut
benefit someone who is not working. Democrats tried to extend
unemployment benefits to help American workers, but the Republican
leadership explicitly rejected it. They needed to save money for their
wealthy friends. They needed to save money for their friends who run
corporations.
In a pool of $550 billion, they did not have the money for the people
who are looking for work each and every day in a job market where three
people on the average are applying for one single job vacancy, three
people.
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They did not have money for the real people of America. That is going
to mean tens of thousands of workers across America are going to find
it even more difficult just to survive. Do we not care about the
economic security of those who are not rich?
In my district, 27,000 workers will lose unemployment benefits in the
coming months. The Republicans do not even realize that unemployment
insurance may actually be an economic stimulus. One study estimate that
13 additional weeks of benefits would provide an estimated $150 million
of stimulus to the regional economy.
Stimulating the economy really, though, has not been a hallmark for
Republicans except when it comes to adding to the wealth of those
Americans who are already wealthy. The wealthy people of America do not
need dividend cuts. But the unemployed of America desperately need some
help, just a little help to ensure that they and their families can
survive an economy that they really, quite frankly, are not responsible
for.
Now what happens when people are desperate because they do not have a
job, nor unemployment benefits? Children go hungry, foreclosures
increase, more people become homeless, emergency rooms in our already
stressed public hospitals systems become more taxed, domestic violence
increases and, of course, as we are witnessing in California, there is
an increase in the crime rate.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, let me call your attention to the
unemployment rates as of this last April. The white population had an
unemployment rate of about 6 percent. The Latino unemployment rate was
about 7.5 percent. And the African-American unemployment rate is about
10.9, close to 11 percent. Now when you look at the massive budget cuts
coupled with these high rates of unemployment and no job creation
efforts on the horizon and no extension of unemployment benefits, what
is the message, quite frankly, what is the message that you are sending
to people of color? Do they matter? Or is it only the wealthy who are
the ones that this administration is looking out for?
The facts speak for themselves, Mr. Speaker. So let us extend
unemployment benefits for American workers and let us do it now. We
must pass H.R. 1652, and I thank the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Cummings) for yielding and for allowing us this opportunity to wake up,
America.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for her
statement. One of the things that you said that I found so very
interesting when you were talking about all of these people losing
their jobs, 2.7 million since President Bush has come in to office, but
one of the things that is so interesting, too, is we are very concerned
about health care. A lot of these jobs that folks are losing had health
insurance benefits that accompanied them, and so then we got a lot of
people who have no insurance.
Ms. LEE. I thank the gentleman for raising that. Because here in our
country we have approximately 44 million uninsured, and that number is
rising as a result of the 2.5, 2.7 million unemployed. Universal health
care has got to be our goal in terms of any health care reform. But, in
the meantime, what do we do to help those who are just struggling from
day to day, who have no jobs, who have no unemployment insurance?
Once again, we go back to our public hospital system and see
individuals, families sitting in waiting rooms for health care when, in
fact, they have no place to go; and this is unconscionable in the
wealthiest and most powerful country in the world.
Let me just finally say our country, rightfully so, is helping to
develop a universal health care system for Iraq. What about a universal
health care system for the people of America, Mr. Speaker?
I think that perhaps again during this crisis maybe those who have
not supported universal health care will now understand that working
men and women, middle-class individuals need universal health care as a
result of this unfortunate situation which our government and this
administration has placed them in.
Mr. CUMMINGS. One of the things that I notice in talking to our mayor
[[Page H4522]]
and talking to city officials, we have discovered that crime seems to
go up when unemployment is high; and I guess it is kind of a logical
correlation. You would hope it would not be, but it is. People when
they are pushed against the wall, I think, are sometimes forced to do
things they might not normally do because the basic instinct of people
is to survive. Sadly, we have seen that in our city where people lose
their jobs.
I guess this is another factor that comes to play there, a lot of
people do not realize how significant a job is. A job helps you to do
for your family. If someone has got a child or got a family, they want
to be able to take care of their family when the little girl comes home
and says, Mommy, we are going on a class trip, something as simple as
that, and mommy has to say I cannot afford that $5 or that $7 for that
class trip. All of that kind of stuff is painful.
I have not even gotten into things like food and shelter, things that
are basic needs. But that has to wear on folks. And that is the toll
that we, I guess, a lot of people do not think about it. We think about
the economic side, but we do not think about the wear and tear on
people.
Again, one of the things about having a job is that it gives people a
sense of worth because they feel as if they are contributing. So we do
not know how all of those factors come together to really be quite
harmful not only to the individuals, but certainly if you got mommy and
daddy in a bad mood trying to figure out how they will make ends meet,
I am sure that does not make for a happy and consistently healthy
household.
Ms. LEE. The gentleman raised a very good point. I think if you look
around your country now and you look at the crime rates, and I,
unfortunately, have to site California. The increase has been 28
percent, I think. There is a direct correlation between the
unemployment rate and the escalation in the crime rate. Desperate
people do desperate things.
As a professional psychiatric social worker, I have seen what
depression and what the lack of self-worth and the lack of self-esteem
prompt people to do, oftentimes unconsciously. Again, desperate people
do desperate things.
Look at our young people. You just look at, first of all, low-income
individuals who now as a result of not having any unemployment
insurance, coupled with the cuts that are taking place in the school
districts with afterschool programs, what is going to happen to these
young kids who need afterschool programs as a result of having nowhere
to go after school because their parents are out trying to find a job,
trying to survive?
You layer all of these cuts on top of no money and on top of not
having a job and little hope because there are very few job
opportunities because we have not created the investment in our
infrastructure and we have not created an investment in housing
construction. We have not created an investment to increase job
opportunities. So, once again, on top of all of these very dismal
circumstances and reactions, then you have no hope. And what happens
when people have no hope?
It is very hard for me and for many of us here. I know for those of
us who are Democrats and those of us on the Congressional Black Caucus,
it pushes us against the wall in terms of what do we do next.
How do we be a real advocate to create these jobs that people need
because their life, their world is based around their self-esteem and
their sense of dignity which involves a job, a good-paying job with
benefits as central to their existence?
Mr. CUMMINGS. One of the recent reports that came out showed that
when you increase those unemployment benefits, for every dollar you are
bringing in $1.73 to stimulate the economy because that money is
circulating. I found that very interesting, because I was just talking
to people in my neighborhood.
When I visit the barber or visit the local grocery stores or small
grocery stores in my neighborhood and talk to the shoe repair people, I
kind of try to get a feel for how business is. And you would think that
a lot of times people do not realize how when people are not working it
effects almost everybody. There is such a chain. It is like a chain
with a lot of links. If a person is not working, that means he may not
be getting a haircut. That means the barber will not go and do certain
things.
One of the things that was interesting, most of the people I have
talked to over the last 3 or 4 months told me business was down. One of
the things they say is that they can almost predict how much business
they will have based upon the season of the year. It may be small
restaurants or whatever, but they said that they have been seeing their
charts are going down, down, down with regards to income, which means
that they are having to lay off a lot of people.
Ms. LEE. For the life of me, I do not quite understand why the
Republicans do not see the connection between having money in one's
pocket, whether it is through a job or the unemployment insurance, how
that does not effect an economic stimulus thrust. When you spend money,
you stimulate the economy. Some of us may not believe in consumerism,
but this is America and people buy stuff. I mean, they buy stuff all
the time. If you do not have any money, you cannot buy anything; and
buying stuff, whatever it is, leads to economic recovery.
So extending unemployment benefits allows people to have money in
their pockets to not only buy food and take care of their families but
also buy what they need to survive which, of course, in the private
sector helps increase, well, it may not be a profit margin right now
but just may keep businesses from going out of business, especially in
our neighborhoods which really are dependent on that type of commerce.
Mr. CUMMINGS. One of the things that I always admired about the
United States is how whenever there was tragedy in any part of the
country, be it a tornado or be it problems, big fires or whatever,
Americans have a sense that we want to rally to that part of our
country that has a problem.
FEMA is out there whenever we have a disaster, and we want that to
happen because we want all Americans to be strong. And here we have a
situation where we have many Americans who are suffering.
It is one thing to have an idea of how you are going to make ends
meet, but when you are sitting there and you are trying to figure out
how are you going to pay these bills, I mean, to me that is a situation
that is a state of emergency, too, because people still have to feed
their children. They still have to buy tennis shoes. They still have to
do the things that they do from day to day. So you would think that
when this whole unemployment insurance law came into effect, it came
into effect basically to try to deal with situations where people were
out of work through no fault of their own.
As a matter of fact, if you look at the entire structure and the
regulations that go with unemployment insurance, that is basically what
it goes to, people who are out of work because of no fault of their
own. So here we have this emergency situation, people who fit the
category, it just so happens that we have an economy that is on the
downstroke and not doing very well, and so with that same sense of
rescue that FEMA does, I would hope that we would do the same thing.
But the fact is that time is running out. That is why we are here
tonight, trying to say to this Congress that there are people who are
suffering and who are in a state of emergency.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, we all recognize our national security needs in
our country and rise to the occasion and appropriate money for all
kinds of efforts to ensure national security. Well, I believe that the
economic security of every man, woman and child is very critical to our
overall national security. We must have a stable, healthy population in
our country. Otherwise, our country becomes vulnerable from within.
People become restless, people have no hope, as I said earlier, and it
is very important that we provide just this minimal extension of
unemployment insurance benefits just to let them know we care during
these very volatile times.
Here we passed, well, not with my vote, but passed an $80 billion
supplemental. Again, $80 billion is a lot of money. I think we should
find $80 billion to help those who are unemployed. We found it a couple
of months ago. I think we can find it now. I think it is very important
to show the American
[[Page H4523]]
people that we care about their security here.
We must also remember these young women who, because of the Welfare
to Work initiative and welfare reform which some of us agree with, some
of us do not agree with, bottom line is time limits are running out.
They are hopefully still working, but many are not because of the
economy. Many were working two jobs and three jobs with no benefits.
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Now their unemployment compensation is running out. Well, under the
very awful welfare reform law, they run up against 5 years and they
cannot even go back and apply for public assistance. So what do they
do? What does a young woman do with two or three kids? They cannot even
go back to try to get a safety net provided for a couple of months.
So this lack of attention to the American people, to our people, to
women, to children, to average everyday working men and women, this
lack of attention, I think, is very wrong and it is immoral. I believe
that our country is beginning to see the real hypocrisy in many of our
policies and how the Republicans can continue to look out for those who
are privileged, yet for those who are struggling, cannot seem to really
figure out what to do or will not do the right thing, when in fact
Democrats consistently have put forward proposals to help lift everyone
up.
Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for
joining me and joining our caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, in
addressing these issues.
So often I think people would ask the question: Why is it that
members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other members of our
party would take the time to speak up on these issues? I guess they
would wonder, is there any hope? I believe that we have no choice.
When we see people who are down and out and going through problems,
we have no choice but to speak up for them. The fact is that their tax
dollars, the $80 billion that the gentlewoman talked about a few
moments ago, the downpayment on the Iraq war, the same people that are
unemployed today, those were their tax dollars that were used for the
Iraq war. Their tax dollars are the same ones that our President says
that he is going to rebuild all of the schools and educational
facilities over there in Iraq. They are the same tax dollars. Their
same tax dollars are providing universal health care in Iraq. Their
same tax dollars that they paid are going to create an election system
that will, I am sure, rival the one that we might have in this country.
They are merely saying, okay, if we can do all of that with our tax
dollars, then why can I not be rescued when I am drowning because I do
not have a job, through no fault of my own; and if I could work, I
would work, and I would continuously and happily contribute to our
economy and pay my taxes?
It is very painful when we think about it. So that is why we stand
here and stand up for folks, because we know that there are many
Americans who are saying, well, that makes sense, and they need a
voice. So that is why we are here.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his very eloquent and
very passionate statement, because I believe that Americans are
beginning to see the hypocrisy and the discrepancy and the disparities
in all of the Republican policies, and especially as it relates to tax
policy.
The gentleman raised the fact that working people should have a right
to some of the benefits in our country because they contribute
immensely to the workings of government and to the society; yet they
are the ones who never see those benefits. And if we are true to our
country, true to our flag, true to our Constitution, then we need to
work each and every day to ensure that liberty and justice for all
prevails, because certainly, right now, there are millions of Americans
out there who are wondering why they have been left out of this great
American Dream.
Mr. CUMMINGS. The gentlewoman and I have been here so often when our
colleagues cite all kinds of passages from the Bible and talk about how
we are supposed to do for our brothers and sisters. It makes me wonder
sometimes whether we are reading the same document when it comes to
folks that are having the problems that they are having. This whole
idea of unemployment benefits, even if we did not see it as a moral
issue, if we put that aside and say I just want to deal with the
economics, the economics would tell us that this is good for America.
So I thank the gentlewoman, and I thank other members of the
Congressional Black Caucus who have submitted statements. We know that
there are many Americans who are depending on us to continue to stand,
and we will stand.
Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman; and once again I urge my
colleagues tonight, if they happened to have seen this discussion, to
support H.R. 1652. And if no one from the House is listening, let us
hope that America is listening; and I am urging our country to wake up,
get in touch with the United States Congress and say, let us pass H.R.
1652 on behalf of those very noble working men and women who deserve an
extension of their unemployment insurance benefits.
Mr. CUMMINGS. As I close, Mr. Speaker, I would just say that I
visited a school the other day, and I was thinking about the little
children who were standing up and putting their little hands to their
hearts. I would say probably a third of these children had parents who
were unemployed. As I watched them put their little hands up to their
little hearts, these little first graders, and say, ``I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,'' and go on and
say, ``one Nation under God, indivisible,'' that every time we get to
the ``one Nation'' piece, it makes me on the one hand feel very proud
that this is one Nation, but on the other hand I feel sad that one
Nation applies in certain instances; but when it comes to the weak in
that Nation, suddenly we go our separate ways.
So we have a lot of people hurting, and the question is: What will we
do to help them?
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the real ``shock and
awe'' is what's happening to American workers.
The House of Representatives passed an extension of unemployment
insurance benefits on January 27th for almost 3 million unemployed
American workers. At that time I stated that the legislation is, albeit
a small one, step in the right direction. However, I was supportive of
a much stronger unemployment compensation extension, one that would
have provided benefits to an additional 1 million American workers
whose benefits have expired.
Specifically, on December 28th, 800,000 Americans lost their extended
unemployment benefits. The Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation
(TEUC) program ended on December 28th because the President and House
Republicans rejected Democratic pleas to extend the TEUC program with a
compromise bill that the Senate had passed unanimously.
I was in full support of the House Democrats' comprehensive
unemployment benefits bill introduced by Representative Rangel. This
bill would have reestablished and expanded the Federal extended
unemployment benefits program. Most importantly, it would have
guaranteed all jobless workers at least 26 weeks of extended benefits.
Unfortunately, the House GOP leadership refused to allow a vote on
this Democratic bill. Instead, they only allowed members to vote on
their bill, which provides an extension of only 13 weeks of extended
unemployment benefits, with no extension to workers whose benefits have
already expired.
Mr. Speaker, the Dallas-For Worth's 100 biggest employers shave
eliminated about 41,000 jobs in the last two years, according to the
Dallas Morning News' Annual Top 100 Employers ranking. The big
employers have been hit especially hard because they include a high
proportion of technology and telecom companies. More than a third of
the region's total job losses at employers of all sizes were in
technology, according to one estimate. And the long-suffering industry
has shown no signs of rebounding .
To make matters worse, my District's biggest local employer, AMR
Corp., parent company of American Airlines Inc., expects to shed
thousands more jobs in coming months in an effort to keep the company
solvent. The airline cut 3,000 jobs in the last year and this month
began notifying 7,100 unionized workers that their jobs would be cut
under the new concessionary contracts approved by the unions. Dallas-
based Greyhound Lines Inc., the nation's largest operator of passenger
buses and number 78 on this year's list, lost
[[Page H4524]]
about 200 employees. And the cuts may not be over.
In the last three years alone, of the 105,000 jobs lost in the Dallas
area, 30,000 to 40,000 were probably in information technology. And
it's taking longer than ever for those unemployed workers to find new
jobs.
Such figures stand in sharp contrast to February 2001, when
unemployment in Dallas was 4.2 percent. In unemployment figures
released recently, the nation's jobless rate had reached 6 percent,
matching December's eight-year high. More than 500,000 Americans have
lost their jobs in the last three months alone.
Mr. Speaker, we will need to provide meaningful assistance to workers
by passing health care relief for those who have lost their coverage
along with their jobs. This Congress should stay here, extend
unemployment benefits for at least an additional 13 weeks, and tackle
the serious problem of how we are going to put America back to work.
These are the kinds of real benefits that we owe American families.
Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, we have only three more days to provide an
extension of unemployment benefits before millions of hard working men
and women lose their only remaining way to put food on the table.
Congress created the temporary extension of unemployment benefits
last year in response to continuing poor economic performance. The need
has only increased since then!
The total job loss in the Bush economy has risen to a staggering 2.5
million private jobs since the President took office.
Instead of doling tax cuts to the wealthy and allowing corporations
to steal their employee's pensions, our government should be granting
another extension of unemployment benefits.
These are benefits that millions of Americans are depending on to pay
for groceries, utilities, and rent.
The unemployment rate is now at 6 percent, and still climbing. In
many states, like California, the rate is even higher. Yet, many of
these hard working Americans have already exhausted their unemployment
insurance (UI) benefits.
Americans are finding themselves without jobs!
Without health insurance!!
The only thing they are finding is a growing sense of frustration,
despair, and fear of their government.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to express my disappointment at the
administration's and the Republican Congress' economic policy, a policy
that leaves the working class and our nation's minorities behind.
We need an extension of unemployment benefits now!
Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, during the Republican Presidential Primaries
of 1980, George Bush, Sr. referred to Ronald Reagan's proposed economic
policy as ``voodoo economics.'' At the time, the economy was in the
throws of a recession with a stubborn 5 to 6 percent unemployment rate;
and millions of Americans were out of work. Predicated on the ludicrous
dogma of ``supply side economics''--which has since been thoroughly
discredited--President Reagan's job-creation policy entailed a massive
tax cut overwhelmingly benefitting the wealthy; and the effect were to
purportedly ``trickle down'' to the unemployed. During those 1980
primary debates, Mr. Bush, Sr. was correct in referring to President
Reagan's policies as ``voodoo economics.'' His tax-cut was not
successful in creating new jobs, but in creating massive budget
deficits and an appalling gap between the rich and the poor.
Fast forward 23 years, and it seems that our current President should
heed the advice of his father. For once again the Republicans have
responded to our recession and high unemployment rate with voodoo
economics. Once again, their magic elixir is an indefensible, obscene
tax cut for millionaires that will provide negligible relief for the
working class and will have minimal impact on job creation. Yet once
again they strenuously assert that their plan will create jobs and
bring relief to millions of working class Americans. If only this
Congress would listen to the elder Mr. Bush.
The American economy has lost 2.7 million jobs since President Bush
came to office. The current national unemployment rate is 6 percent.
8.8 million Americans are unemployed, 2 million of which have been
unemployed for over 6 months. In just the last three months, 500,000
more Americans have lost their jobs. In my home state of Illinois, the
unemployment rate is 6.6 percent and rising. We have lost at least
108,700 jobs since 2001, and over 422,000 Illinois citizens are out of
work. My home city of Chicago has been hit particularly hard, and my
congressional district on the south side of Chicago has been hit even
harder.
These are not abstract numbers. While the country club millionaires
who will benefit from the GOP tax cuts probably do not walk the streets
of Chicago and witness the extreme poverty and hardship that come with
high unemployment, I stand here on the floor of the House of
Representatives, with my colleagues from the Congressional Black
Caucus, to tell this Congress that the pain from unemployment is acute,
and it is real.
The President and the Republican Congress seem to callously treat
joblessness and economic hardship as some sort of unavoidable condition
that can be exploited to justify their policies that blatantly benefit
the wealthy. While this is a harsh indictment, what other conclusion
can one come to? After all, the facts are quite clear: in the face of
widespread financial misery whereby millions of Americans are out of
work and millions more are teetering the brink of unemployment, the
President and Congress do not choose to extend unemployment benefits to
those Americans who actually feel the pain of unemployment; they do not
choose to adequately equip states with the financial resources
necessary to relieve the ancillary hardships that stem from
unemployment (such a crime as lack of health insurance); they do not
even choose to offer significant tax-relief to working-class and
middle-income Americans who are the actual taxpayers losing their jobs.
No: President Bush and this Congress choose to address this issue by
passing a $550 billion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy
and the very people who are in the least need of help; and then try to
call it a ``job creation bill.'' The sheer absurdity of this tax-
cutting policy, on its face, suggests that the Republican-controlled
Congress is disingenuous and is not truly serious about addressing the
despair of joblessness. Instead, the President and this Congress have
chosen to simply make the rich even richer; and simply cloak their
policies under the guise of ``job creation'' (which is the latest
marketing spin to come from the White House justifying its elitist tax
cut.)
For how could one possibly believe and defend the assertion that the
President's tax-cut package will actually create jobs? All of the
evidence overwhelmingly points to the contrary. According to Congress's
very own analysis the Republican tax-cut proposal--notwithstanding
their vehement assertions otherwise--will not substantially kick-start
the economy and crate jobs. Both the Congressional budget Office and
the Joint Committee on Taxation has proffered detailed studies that
show this tax-cut package will have virtually no sustainable effect on
unemployment. If they choose not to believe their own analyses,
Congress should listen to other credible sources: Federal Reserve
Chairman, Alan Greenspan, Nobel Prize economists and financial titans
such as Warren Buffet have said that the Republican tax-cut plan will
do nothing to create new jobs. Thus, if one takes the Republicans at
their word and believes that they are sincerely trying to help working
class Americans with this tax cut package, then one must inevitably
come to the conclusion that their choice of policy is borne from sheer
myopia or even stupidity.
In reality, however, it's easy to see what's really going on: the
Republican tax-cut plan is geared towards granting tax relief to
wealthy Americans and has little if anything to do with job creation.
As ten Noble Prize winning economists put it: ``Regardless of how one
views the specifics of the Bush plan, there is wide agreement that its
purpose is a permanent change in the tax structure and not the creation
of jobs and growth in the near term.''
Thus, we here in Congress still have a lot of work to do. Along with
the President, we have to enact real and sincere policies to create
jobs and bring economic relief to millions of Americans. The citizens
of Illinois--the citizens in my district on the south side of chicago--
deserve a responsive President and Congress that are serious about
addressing the hardships of unemployment. The legislative solutions are
not elusive. This is not rocket science. Congress should extend
benefits to millions of unemployed Americans who will soon see their
benefits expire and be left with no income. We should authorize and
appropriate substantial funds to the states who are financially
strapped and can no longer deliver some basic services to their
citizens.
We must enact targeted and responsible fiscal stimulus that will kick
start sustainable economic growth unencumbered by future budget
deficits. Not only are these policy prescriptions the compassionate
thing to do, they are the smart, economically-sound thing to do.
I urge this Congress to act now. Working class men and women are
depending on us.
Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, this evening I implore my fellow colleagues
to invest in our American families. The issue of this country's
economic growth and stability is before us yet again, and it appears as
if we are about to worsen the situation.
We first failed our American families by approving a budget that
neglects the economic and social needs of this country's citizens. This
Congress also ensured that future generations will be burdened with
debt as well.
[[Page H4525]]
We must not fail our American families again. The Members of Congress
have the opportunity to extend unemployment benefits as such benefits
expire on May 31, 2003. We must do so.
Our African American families have fared the worst during this
economic crisis. The unemployment rate for African Americans is almost
11 percent at 10.9 percent. This rate is twice that of whites. In
February, the number of unemployed African Americans totaled 1.7
million.
Every Member of Congress is witnessing firsthand the toll that this
economy is taking on our constituents. Not one state is unaffected by
this issue. The unemployment rate in Michigan is 6.7 percent. The
unemployment rate in Detroit is 7.2 percent. This particular statistic
has more than doubled since the last Administration. In November of
2000, the unemployment rate in Detroit was at 3.0 percent.
The budget resolution approved last month guarantees that this
country has not yet seen the worst of these unemployment statistics for
my District, our community, and the entire country as well.
The Administration claims that the approved budget will create
190,000 jobs. Is the Administration to be commended for creating
190,000 jobs? This number equates to less than the number of jobs that
were lost during February and March of this year. During those months,
477,000 jobs were lost.
How are we to alleviate this economic downturn when we fail to
provide employment opportunities for this country's citizens? How can
we then fail to give those hard-working Americans, who have been laid
off with no job prospects in sight, sustenance during these hard times.
While I have highlighted the unemployment statistics within the
African American community and Michigan, let me make it clear--this is
not a Black issue or a Michigan issue. This is an issue that affects
all Americans and as such, we must extend the Temporary Emergency
Unemployment Compensation Program (TEUC).
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to address the rising
unemployment in our country. Since President Bush took office, 2.7
million people--538,000 in the past three months--have lost their jobs.
The unemployment rate now stands at 8.8 million people, 6 percent, the
highest level in more than 10 years. California, which has bourne the
brunt of the economic downturn has nearly 1.2 million people out of
work. In my home city of Los Angeles, our unemployment rate is almost
6.5 percent.
The President and his party will say that it isn't their fault. They
will say that this recession started well before the President was
sworn into office. That clearly is not true, even if it were, the
President's policies have only made the problem worse. By advocating
tax cuts to solve every problem, President Bush has avoided taking any
type of leadership role in solving this problem. The President, so far,
has prescribed tax cuts as his sole cure for budget surpluses, budget
deficits, the energy crisis, the war on terrorism and heaven knows what
else. It is clear that this is part of a calculated strategy on the
part of this Administration to starve domestic health and social
programs to meet our peoples' needs: Programs like S-Chip, Head Start,
public housing. Unfortunately, this list goes on and on.
Meanwhile, our nation's workers are out of work, out of options and
out of benefits. Nationwide, an estimated 2.1 million workers--80,000 a
week--will exhaust their regular unemployment benefits over the next
five months. In California, 150,400 workers will exhaust their
unemployment benefits by the end of May. But, while Congress can find
the time to pass two multi-trillion tax cuts to benefit the wealthy,
those who need it least, it can not find the time to extend
unemployment benefits for workers whose benefits have been exhausted,
those who need it most.
Extending unemployment benefits is the simplest and most effective
way we can improve this economy. A recent study by Economy.com found
that each dollar dedicated to extending unemployment benefits would
boost the economy by $1.73. However, the same study found that the
centerpiece of the GOP package, the dividend tax cut, would be the
least efficient in stimulating the economy. Each dollar dedicated to
reducing the taxation of dividends would boost the economy by only 9
cents.
But the President continues to advocate tax cuts. As if this failed
policy will now miraculously work. It did not work in 2001 and it will
not work in 2003. After passage of the largest tax cut in US history--
$1.3 trillion--the economy lost 1.7 million jobs. The Republicans call
their plan a ``jobs and economic growth'' bill. Yet, study after
study--from the Congressional Budget Office to Economy.com to the
editorial pages of the country's leading papers--show that it is
anything but a job and growth plan. The bill the Republicans have
drafted will have no stimulus effect on the economy, nor will it create
jobs.
The Democrats, on the other hand, have developed a strong and
balanced policy that will create over a million jobs this year alone.
Importantly, the Democrats put money in the hands of the unemployed
through the extension of unemployment benefits and tax breaks that help
the middle class. It also provides desperately needed help to the
States who are struggling under the worst financial crisis since the
Great Depression. Under the Republicans' plan, mind you, economists
expect the states' financial crisis to worsen.
About the only thing that this bill does is explode the deficit. Less
than two years after President Clinton left office, we find ourselves
in record deficits and an exploding national debt. President Bush
promised when he came into office that the would pay off the debt, not
too quickly though. He was concerned about the repercussions of paying
off the debt too quickly.
So what did this president do? Well, he certainly didn't pay off the
debt. Instead, he increased the national debt by $1.5 trillion over the
next ten years. As if this was not bad enough, the debt subject to
statutory limit, which at the beginning of this Administration was $5.7
trillion, is now projected to reach more than $12 trillion by the end
of 2013, all thanks to Republican policies.
I close, Mr. Speaker, wondering when we will throw away these
policies of yesteryear and start doing something of substance? People
are hurting. They don't need cheerleading or Horatio Algers stories
about how, if they work hard, they, too, can become millionaires. They
need our help. When are we going to stop pretending that tax cuts are
the cure all for the nation's problems and begin doing meaningful work
that will put our constituents to work and not burden our children with
trillions in debt. When will we return to funding health, education and
social service programs to meet the needs of our people. I hope soon,
Mr. Speaker.
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