[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 21, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4586-S4587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS

  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, as we debate the supplemental, I want to 
speak about the importance of extending unemployment insurance to our 
economy and to so many of our fellow Americans.
  I know if Senator Kennedy were on the Senate floor today, he would be 
leading this effort, lending his powerful voice, as he always does, 
with fervor and passion on behalf of those in this Nation who are in 
need. I certainly hope and pray that he will be with us once again 
lending his voice to this and so many other critical issues.
  Mr. President, we know there are Americans in need. These are 
difficult economic times, not just for Americans on the bottom of the 
economic ladder but for Americans from all walks of life.
  In the past year alone, as this chart indicates, losses in the stock 
market and in home values have totaled $2.7 trillion each--that is 
trillion with a ``t.'' Foreclosures have risen 130 percent since 2006. 
Some 20,000 families lose their homes every week. This combination of a 
credit and housing crisis isn't just affecting Wall Street or 
homeowners, but it is reaching throughout our economy and putting a 
strain on businesses, large and small, from factories to restaurants.
  Under the pressure of this economic squeeze, the economy has lost 
260,000 jobs in the last 4 months alone. Beyond just the loss of the 
jobs, what is hurting those who have lost a job is the time it is 
taking to find a new job. These are not individuals who are just 
sitting back and waiting for someone to offer them a job. These are 
people who are actively engaged in the labor market and looking for 
gainful employment, looking for the dignity of a job.
  This chart shows us the average length of unemployment has risen to 
almost 17 weeks--longer than at any time Congress has extended benefits 
in the past 30 years. In my State of New Jersey, each week some 3,000 
more unemployed workers are exhausting their benefits. It is not that 
they are sitting back at home. They are engaged in the market looking 
for jobs--many times even outside of their field, simply to be 
gainfully employed.
  While we certainly hope some of the recent efforts we have performed 
in the Congress to stimulate our economy will be successful, there are 
still troubling signs. Long-term unemployment is higher now than before 
the last recession. Mr. President, 17.8 percent of people unemployed 
find themselves searching for a job for over 27 weeks. That is a 58-
percent increase since the year 2001. Statistics show those who are 
unemployed are going to have a very difficult time finding a job, as 
there are 7.6 million unemployed Americans competing for only 3.8 
million jobs. That is two workers for every job.
  Some are struggling more than others. Veterans and minorities have 
been disproportionately burdened by our struggling labor market. Young 
male veterans who answered the call to protect our Nation after 
September 11, 2001, are now faced with an 11.2-percent unemployment 
rate--well over twice the national average. A total of 21,588 newly 
discharged veterans are now unemployed and collecting unemployment 
insurance.
  It seems to me the last thing these brave men and women who risked 
their lives dodging bullets and IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan should 
have to worry about is finding a job when they come home. And when they 
cannot, it seems to me the last thing they should have to worry about 
is not having any income to sustain themselves and their families. Now 
they are standing in an unemployment line, and pretty soon they will 
not be able to do that either.
  Minorities are also being hit especially hard by our current economic 
conditions. For Hispanics, unemployment has grown to 6.9 percent. For 
African Americans, unemployment has grown 8.6 percent. Both are well 
beyond the national average. We cannot ignore the fact that the 
subprime crisis has also disproportionately affected some communities 
more than others. Unfortunately, for many of these hard-working 
Americans, their hope of obtaining and continuing to keep the American 
dream has instead become a personal nightmare.
  These statistics are not just numbers. The 260,000 jobs lost this 
year, the 7.6 million Americans who are unemployed, the 21,000 veterans 
collecting unemployment--this is not just economic data. Behind each 
number is a story and an American worker who is struggling.
  Let's take a moment to imagine what it would be like to be one of 
these workers. All of the Members of the Senate are gainfully employed. 
But try to put yourself in the shoes of one of these American workers. 
Imagine you have two kids, you have a mortgage to pay, and you just 
lost your job. That alone is a scenario that could lead any family into 
hard times. If you are also facing foreclosure because of a bad 
subprime mortgage that has reset to a higher rate, or if losing your 
job meant losing your health care insurance that provided coverage for 
your children, imagine how powerless you would feel. Imagine the 
uncertainty of not being able to find a job, not being able to pay for 
your child's college education for the next semester, not being able to 
keep the home in which your children grew up. Imagine what that must be 
like.
  Mr. President, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans facing 
these very dire circumstances, who know all too well, unfortunately, 
what it feels like. It is up to us to lend them a helping hand during 
their darkest days. That is what the extension of unemployment benefits 
in the supplemental will accomplish.
  On top of that, we also know extending unemployment is one of the 
most effective ways to help the economy. For every dollar the 
Government provides in unemployment insurance, $1.64 goes right into 
our economy.
  While I, along with many of my colleagues, believed this should have 
been part of the stimulus we had earlier, I am pleased we have another 
chance.
  Today, as unemployment and the cost of living continue to rise, it is 
even more imperative to act now and do what is right. Mr. President, 
1.4 million workers have been actively looking for a job for more than 
6 months--half a year of their life actively looking for a job. As it 
is becoming harder to find a job, more families are running out of 
their unemployment benefits. Thirty-six percent of workers exhaust 
their benefits before finding a job, and many expect that number to 
increase. In March of this year, 45 percent of New Jerseyans receiving 
unemployment insurance exhausted their benefits before finding a new 
job.
  We have a chance to fairly and reasonably address the challenges that 
long-term unemployment are creating for many fellow Americans. 
Extending unemployment insurance will help those who are hit hardest 
and give the economy a much needed shot in the arm.
  We have this opportunity to act, and act now. I cannot understand 
when those who try every day, get up and go

[[Page S4587]]

out into the market to try to find a job--when we have twice the number 
of Americans as there are jobs competing for employment--why we are 
saying to veterans who have come back and others who are standing on an 
unemployment line that soon that will be cut off as well. It is 
unconscionable.
  We have an opportunity to change that in this supplemental. I hope 
our colleagues who enjoy the benefits of gainful employment will give 
the American workers the helping hand they need and stimulate our 
economy by supporting the extension of the unemployment insurance.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont is 
recognized.
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I want to say a few words about two 
important components of the domestic supplemental bill which, in my 
view, must be passed whenever we end up considering that legislation, 
and that is the new GI educational bill and the billion dollars in the 
bill for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program.
  As an early cosponsor of the post-9/11 Veterans Educational 
Assistance Act, I am here today to ask my colleagues not only to pass 
this legislation but pass it with big numbers so if President Bush 
decides to veto it, we will have the votes--and he knows we will have 
the votes--to override that veto.
  The soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have paid a very 
heavy toll. In Iraq alone, over 4,000 have died, over 30,000 have been 
injured, and tens of thousands more have come home with post-traumatic 
stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
  In my State of Vermont, middle-aged dads and moms have left their 
families, they have left their kids, they have left their jobs, and 
they have joined their fellow members of the National Guard and Reserve 
in a kind of war they never dreamed they would be fighting. But they 
went to war and they did their jobs, and they did their jobs well and 
without complaint. They gave as much as they could give for their 
country, and now it is our turn to give back, not only for them but for 
the well-being of our entire economy.
  The original GI bill was an appropriate way for a grateful nation to 
say thank you for the service and sacrifice of those who wore our 
country's uniform. That bill was not only a way to express our 
appreciation to the greatest generation, but it enabled millions of 
Americans to get a college education, and by doing that, it helped 
reshape the American economy, it created immense wealth, and allowed 
millions of Americans to enter the middle class.
  There are, in fact, those who believe that the GI bill was one of the 
major reasons for the strong economic spurt this country enjoyed from 
the end of World War II to the early 1970s.
  Unfortunately, as many returning soldiers understand, today's GI 
educational benefits do not match up with what the World War II 
veterans received and do not come close today to covering the cost of a 
college education. That is why it is so important that we update these 
benefits by passing the new GI bill, both for our Active-Duty soldiers 
and for the National Guard and Reserve.
  As a nation, we must understand that caring for our servicemembers is 
part of the cost of going to war. If we are going to go to war, we 
cannot forget about the men and women who put their lives on the line 
and returned from that war.
  There are some who say this bill is too generous for our 
servicemembers, that we cannot afford to provide these benefits. I 
disagree. If we can spend $12 billion every single month paying for the 
cost of the war in Iraq, we surely can spend the equivalent of 4 months 
of that war to pay for the cost of the educational benefits for these 
men and women for a 10-year period.
  The new GI bill will cover the highest in-State undergraduate tuition 
at a public college or university where the veteran is enrolled, plus a 
living stipend, and would be based on how long the veteran served in 
active duty. This money could also be applied to law school, medical 
school, or approved programs of study.
  This is an extremely important piece of legislation. I congratulate 
Senator Webb for offering it. And now it is our job to pass it.
  There is another component of the domestic supplemental that also 
must be passed, and that is the $1 billion in additional funding for 
LIHEAP that was included in the supplemental appropriations bill 
through the adoption of an amendment by Senator Jack Reed of Rhode 
Island. I thank Senator Reed for offering that amendment and for 
getting it passed in the Appropriations Committee by a bipartisan vote 
of 20 to 9, which included 5 Republicans.
  Furthermore, I have been active on that issue by authoring a letter, 
which was cosigned by 20 of my colleagues, including 4 Republicans, who 
also understand the absolute imperative for increasing funding for 
LIHEAP.
  Two years ago, under the leadership of Senator Snowe and many other 
Senators, LIHEAP funding was increased by $1 billion above the 
appropriated level because it was well understood that at that time, we 
faced a home heating emergency. I strongly agreed with that assessment. 
But if we faced a home heating emergency a year ago, we face a much 
more severe home heating emergency today, and that is because the price 
of heating oil and propane are escalating off the roof. They are much 
higher today than they were several years ago. It is absolutely 
imperative that we significantly increase funding for LIHEAP if we are 
not to see the purchasing power of this program eviscerated.
  While $1 billion is a good step forward, the truth is, we are going 
to need a lot more than that to keep pace and level fund in terms of 
real dollars what the American people are receiving from LIHEAP.
  Two years ago, as you know, the price of heating oil was less than 
$2.50 a gallon. Today it is about $4.50 a gallon. What I can tell you 
is that last winter in the State of Vermont, there were families unable 
to heat their homes. Families with children became sick because the 
temperature in those homes was too low. That was last winter. Certainly 
if that was the case last winter, it will only be worse next winter.
  Let us be very clear that the LIHEAP program addresses not only 
families who are worried about keeping warm in the wintertime, it also 
addresses the very serious problem of families, especially older 
people, who, when the weather gets 100-plus degrees, will be too warm 
in the summertime.
  It also addresses the issue of more and more Americans having their 
electricity disconnected. According to the National Energy Assistance 
Directors Association, which represents the State directors of LIHEAP, 
a recordbreaking 15.6 million American families, or nearly 15 percent 
of all households, are at least 30 days late in paying their utility 
bills. Several States have laws on the books that impose a moratorium 
on cutting off essential utility services in the winter. However, these 
utility shutoff moratoriums expire during the spring. Without 
additional LIHEAP funding, senior citizens on fixed income, low-income 
families with children, and persons with disabilities from all across 
this country are in danger of having their essential utility services 
shut off this spring. This is going on in California, Iowa, 
Massachusetts--all over this country. Rapidly rising energy costs are 
the major reason so many Americans are late in paying their energy 
bills. It is extremely important, therefore, that additional LIHEAP 
funding be included in the supplemental to address these urgent needs.
  I hope very much when we get around to addressing the domestic 
supplemental bill that, A, we absolutely pass this legislation with 
strong numbers for our veterans to give them the educational 
opportunities they need and our country needs and, B, let us not forget 
that with the cost of gas and oil soaring, millions of Americans will 
go cold next winter. There are people who will suffer this summer 
unless we pass an expanded LIHEAP program.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from North Dakota.

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