[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 103 (Friday, June 20, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CANDICE S. MILLER

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2008

  Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, the Michigan Department of 
Labor and Economic Growth yesterday shocked Michigan when it released 
its unemployment figures. Michigan's unemployment rate has risen from 
6.9 percent in April to 8.5 percent in May. This is the highest rate in 
our State since October of 1992. Regrettably, we are now one month away 
from recording our eighth straight year of payroll job losses.
  It is in this context that my constituents are hearing the news that 
Congress is debating providing additional unemployment benefits which 
are desperately needed by too many working families in my State. Last 
week this House passed H.R. 5749, the Emergency Extended Unemployment 
Compensation Act, with nearly \2/3\ of the Members of the House voting 
in favor. This bill would provide an additional 13 weeks of 
unemployment benefits to unemployed workers in every State. Unemployed 
workers in States with exceptionally high unemployment rates, like 
Michigan, would receive an additional 13 weeks of benefits beyond that. 
Unfortunately, the provision granting workers in States like Michigan 
an additional 13 weeks of benefits, which received very strong 
bipartisan support in the House just last week, is not included in this 
supplemental appropriations bill.
  The unemployment benefits provision in this supplemental provides 
just 13 additional weeks for every State. It does not provide any extra 
help for States that need it the most. States like Michigan where the 
unemployed are having great difficulty finding work because there are 
so few jobs to be had. Workers have little opportunity to move to other 
areas to find work because they can't sell their homes, and they are 
having difficulty driving far distances to try and find a new job 
because of the high cost of gas. Michigan, with the worst unemployment 
rate in the Nation, needs extra help. This supplemental does not 
provide it.
  I will be supporting both sections of the supplemental. It provides 
equipment and pay for our troops in harm's way and educational benefits 
for them when they return home. And the level of aid to the unemployed 
all across the country is a good start. However, I am disappointed we 
have not provided the much needed extra assistance to those who need it 
most. We must continue to work to help the chronically unemployed to 
get that additional safety net that will help support countless 
families in Michigan.

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