[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5675-S5677]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    EXTENDING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise today to talk about the importance of 
extending unemployment insurance benefits to workers whose regular 
benefits ran out before they could get a new job.
  As we know, the labor market is weak. The unemployment rate has 
jumped to 5.5 percent in April from 5 percent in March. That is an 
extraordinary jump. This is the largest single month spike in 22 years 
and the highest level in 3.5 years.
  In addition, the Labor Department's alternative unemployment rate, a 
measure that includes people who want to work but who are discouraged 
from actively seeking employment because they cannot find full-time 
jobs, reached 9.7 percent in May. This latter statistic might be more 
accurate with what has actually happened in neighborhoods across 
America.
  For Rhode Islanders, the situation is among the worst in the Nation. 
The number of unemployed Rhode Islanders has risen to approximately 
35,000, which has been trending upward and is the highest since June 
1994. Indeed, 6.1 percent are jobless right now, a figure which has 
remained unchanged over the past 2 months.
  This is the fourth highest unemployment rate in the United States, 
and the highest rate in Rhode Island since August 1995, more than 12 
years ago. It is also critical to point out that almost half, 41 
percent of Rhode Islanders unemployed in January, February and March, 
exhausted their benefits, which is more than any other State in New 
England. Unfortunately, other economic indicators are equally 
discouraging. Economists think inflation is here to stay, and it is 
likely to get worse. We have received a very poor inflation number this 
morning which suggests that the forecasts of economists are sadly 
becoming true.
  Food prices are high. Consumers are able to afford fewer groceries at 
the supermarket and restaurants are being squeezed by food costs. Food 
prices across the country spiked by more than 4 percent in 2007, the 
biggest jump in 17 years, and they are expected to escalate another 6 
percent this year, though some items, including eggs and milk, have 
gone up much more. So we are not talking about luxury items, we are 
talking about the basics to survive. They are getting more and more 
expensive as more and more people are not able to find adequate work.
  The price of gasoline has risen 35 percent from a year ago, when it 
averaged approximately $3. In Rhode Island, it now costs $4.11, on 
average, for a gallon of regular unleaded, making it very difficult for 
working families simply to get to school, to get to their job, and to 
get around the State.
  The gross domestic product, the Nation's total output of goods and 
services, the measure of the overall economic activity of the country, 
increased at a mere .9 percent in the first quarter of 2008, which is 
nearly the same as the fourth quarter of last year. This stagnant 
growth obviously is highly correlated with the rising unemployment.
  In April, consumer credit borrowing rose $8.9 billion for the month 
to $2.56 trillion. This is significantly higher than economists 
forecast. This means increasingly that Americans are going to their 
credit cards to get by, and this is a timebomb ready to explode in our 
economy.
  More American families are being overwhelmed by debt. More and more 
families are forced, because they do not have adequate jobs, adequate 
wages to face the rising cost of gasoline and food, to take out the 
plastic. That can only last a certain amount of time. This is a looming 
problem that we have to recognize.
  Similarly, there is speculation that the impact of the foreclosure 
crisis will continue to spread. In my home State of Rhode Island, we 
have the highest foreclosure rate in New England. And the outlook is 
just as bleak. A recent Credit Suisse report noted that foreclosures 
could impact about 6.5 million loans by 2012, meaning that nearly 13 
percent of residential borrowers could be put out of their homes; 13 
percent of homeowners in America are facing the prospect within the 
next few years of losing their homes. That is a startling and 
unacceptable projection.
  Given that the economic situation is significantly harsher now than 
the start of the last recession, the need to extend unemployment 
benefits is clear. In doing so, we can start to stimulate the economy. 
We have virtually no growth, we have a foreclosure crisis with 
escalating gasoline and food prices. If we want to get this country 
moving again, we have got to stimulate the economy. We tried with the 
rebates a few months ago; that has not proved effective. Unemployment 
insurance

[[Page S5676]]

benefits have a very high return on their investment. It generates 
approximately $1.64 in gross domestic product for every dollar we put 
in, and that makes sense.
  Individuals receiving these benefits are going to go right to the 
store, they are going to fuel their cars, they are going to buy food, 
they are going to try to take care of their children. This money is 
going right back in the economy. It is going to stimulate 64 cents more 
than we invest.
  I am disappointed that the administration has released a Statement of 
Administration Policy stating that it strongly opposes the bipartisan 
measure overwhelmingly passed by the House of Representatives last 
week.
  I am disappointed that the minority is unwilling to enact this 
meaningful legislation before us today. This would make a positive 
difference for America. I think it is reckless and irresponsible. 
Unfortunately, it is characteristic of this administration that they 
would oppose unemployment benefits for Americans while they continue to 
exhort us to spend billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 
contrast could not be more stark and, I think, more condemning of this 
administration.
  I believe we have to pass this legislation. We have to face it. And 
for my constituents in Rhode Island, it would be extremely useful.
  According to the Center for Budget Policy Priorities, we have done 
this, we have extended benefits seven times over the past half century. 
They have provided much needed relief to workers. This is not something 
novel and unique. This is something we have done and we should do. We 
cannot afford to delay extending these benefits any longer. People are 
struggling throughout this Nation. It is our responsibility to respond 
to their needs, to give them a chance, to keep them afloat in a very 
stormy economic sea.
  I urge the immediate passage of these unemployment benefits.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New York is 
recognized.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I too rise to support extension in 
unemployment benefits, and express the profound regret I and so many 
others, not only in this Chamber but throughout America, are having 
that our minority colleagues blocked the attempt to move this bill 
forward this morning.
  There are two reasons to do this. One is the individual and the 
humane, to help the people who need help. Of course, that is first and 
foremost. But the second is to give a real shot in the arm to the 
economy. There is no better way when an economy is in recession, going 
slow, to give it a shot in the arm than unemployment benefits. They are 
better than tax cuts, better than any long-term spending program. The 
economists have shown that.
  Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle continue to say no to 
just about everything.

  The sad status quo is not very good. Look at the number of jobs this 
economy has lost this year: 324,000. That is probably 1 million people, 
given that so many of them are family members and breadwinners; 1 
million people who had jobs or had loved ones who had jobs last year 
and don't have them today. We refuse to give them the barest of 
lifelines, an extension of unemployment insurance? That is disgraceful.
  Let me talk about who these people are because each one is an 
individual. How about Vincent DiRoma, former senior engineer for Kodak? 
Not only does he have a wife and three children, he also supports his 
elderly mother who relies on Social Security to get by. Vincent is 
currently training for a new career. We all know Kodak has laid off 
thousands and thousands in the Rochester area, highly qualified people, 
people with tremendous work ethic who don't want to or can't leave the 
Rochester area. Vincent is now training for a new career. He is the 
kind of American we all appreciate. He is not sitting down and cursing 
the darkness. He is trying to make his situation better. His old job 
doesn't exist. An extension of his unemployment insurance will allow 
him time to complete the training and find a new job to support his 
extended family which, including himself, is six people.
  Why are we telling Vincent DiRoma no? Why are we telling the other 
hundreds of thousands like Vincent no? That is so important. Again, we 
just block it.
  Economists, liberal and conservative, will tell us, when an economy 
is teetering on the edge of a recession, or, as many of us think, in 
recession, the best way to get money into that economy is unemployment 
benefits. The people who get them spend it. A tax cut is often saved. 
That is not a bad thing, but it doesn't mainline money into the economy 
the way unemployment benefits do. The money is sent out quickly. There 
is an existing system so we don't have to set up a whole new program.
  In the past, there have been bipartisan moves to extend unemployment 
insurance when the economy heads south. Only in this new Congress--this 
``no, no, no'' Congress, where Republicans block everything almost 
instinctively, atavistically--do we not get this kind of extension.
  Obviously, there is an attempt to put this in the supplemental bill. 
We will try to do that, but it should pass like that. There should not 
be a single opponent to Vincent DiRoma and the other 323,999 people and 
families who have lost their jobs.
  For the sake of humanity, those who are unemployed such as Vincent 
and need the help, and for the sake of our economy, I urge colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle to reconsider. Again, there is no better 
way--none--to get the economy moving than an extension of unemployment 
benefits. It is something we should move to quickly, without partisan 
wrangling, without ideological preconception. We should just move 
forward.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, after 7 long years of the Bush 
administration, our country's economy is in the worst condition it has 
been in decades. In my State of Rhode Island this week, a gallon of gas 
cost $4.11. Grocery bills are up. Utility bills are up. Affordable 
housing is scarce. Many homes are in foreclosure. Health care costs 
remain high. As a blistering hot summer approaches, there seems to be 
no end in sight. These are difficult times for many families. But for 
millions of Americans who are looking for a job today, the challenges 
seem almost insurmountable. Today, Senate Republicans showed yet again 
that they are more loyal to the failed economic policies of President 
Bush than to Americans who right now need our help. Majority Leader 
Reid and Senate Democrats pushed for quick passage of legislation to 
extend unemployment benefits. But Senate Republicans said no, even 
though last month the national unemployment rate saw its biggest 1-
month increase in over 20 years, reaching a 4-year high of 5.5 percent.
  In Rhode Island, things were a bit worse. Last month the unemployment 
rate in our ocean State exceeded 6 percent. That is one of the highest 
in the country. These men and women are being forced to deal with both 
the deep disappointment of losing their jobs and the challenge of 
trying to make ends meet for their families in an economy that is in 
recession.
  One of these people is Brian Perry. Brian lives in East Providence, 
RI. He wrote me earlier this month to ask about the possibility of 
extending unemployment benefits. Brian had been a law clerk at a firm 
in downtown Providence, but he has been unemployed since January 11.
  Since January 11, he has applied unsuccessfully for more than 65 
jobs. One of those positions had more than 300 applicants. Brian is 
receiving unemployment insurance, but it is not enough. Because he 
couldn't afford to pay both his mortgage and his monthly COBRA 
payments, Brian has been without health insurance since the end of 
January.
  In the United States of America, a working man trying to find a job 
without health insurance.
  He says it has become more and more difficult just to afford 
groceries, and some nights he goes to bed hungry. He could go to a food 
pantry, of course, but he has not yet because he thinks there are too 
many people who are worse off than he is. Brian's unemployment benefits 
expire at the end of July.
  People such as Brian need our help, and they need it now. What are we 
here for, if not to help our fellow Americans at times such as this? 
The Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act would help. It 
would temporarily extend unemployment benefits

[[Page S5677]]

13 weeks beyond the ordinary 26-week eligibility period. In States such 
as Rhode Island, where people have been hardest hit, jobless workers 
would receive an additional 13 weeks of unemployment compensation. This 
critical measure was modeled after a bill introduced in January by 
Senator Ted Kennedy, a true champion of working Americans. It passed 
the House of Representatives last week with a strong bipartisan vote.
  As my colleagues know, unemployment insurance is just that--
insurance. Millions of Americans go out pounding the pavement each and 
every day looking for work to support themselves and their families. 
They find work, they work hard, and they earn their paychecks. As part 
of an employee's compensation, employers pay into the unemployment 
insurance system so that workers will be covered if they lose their 
jobs through no fault of their own. Unemployment benefits help hard-
working men and women in this terrible Bush economy cover bills and 
living expenses while they search for a new job. The Emergency Extended 
Unemployment Compensation Act could help over 3 million Americans pay 
the mortgage or the rent or feed their families, as they continue to 
navigate a perilous job market. In Rhode Island alone, there are more 
than 18,000 people in need of a job, and their benefits either already 
have or will soon run out.
  I have heard the argument that people would not be motivated to find 
work if we extend this benefit; that they need this little spur to get 
off the couch and out into the workforce. In my experience, this is a 
ridiculous argument, a demeaning argument, one that is completely 
disengaged from the day-to-day experience of regular Rhode Islanders, 
from ordinary Americans, a true beltway special of an argument. This is 
a hard-working country, and it is in tough economic times. Good people 
are hurting. We should gather together around this legislation, support 
them as they try to get back into the workforce, and pass this piece of 
legislation.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. TESTER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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