[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 154 (Thursday, October 22, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10662-S10663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of the Reid-
Baucus-

[[Page S10663]]

Shaheen amendment to H.R. 3548, which is the unemployment benefits 
extension bill.
  I very much regret that the majority leader has had to file a cloture 
motion on a motion to proceed to even consider that issue. To my mind, 
this should not be a partisan issue. There ought to be agreement in 
this body that we should proceed to extend unemployment benefits given 
the circumstances we face.
  The job market in my home State of New Mexico is dismal, and there is 
very little indication of improvement expected in the near future. New 
Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is modest compared to 
some States. It was only 7.5 percent in August of 2009, but that is up 
from 7 percent in July and up from 4.3 percent a year ago. The trend is 
definitely disturbing. The decline in the number of jobs is the worst 
the State has seen in more than 45 years--with the speed with which we 
have been losing jobs.

  The pain of unemployment is being felt across the country. More than 
5 million Americans have been unemployed for 6 months or more, and 2 
million of these workers face the end of their unemployment benefits 
before the end of this year. There are up to 4,000 New Mexicans who 
will exhaust their unemployment benefits by December 2009. The total 
number of unemployed and underemployed--including those who are working 
two or three part-time jobs to try to make ends meet and those who have 
given up looking for work--approaches 17 percent of our workforce. 
These are not just numbers, obviously. These are real people who face 
each day with the dread of not knowing how they are going to pay for 
the groceries they need that week or their mortgage payment or their 
rent payment.
  The stimulus funding Congress passed earlier this year has helped to 
slow job losses, and it has created some new jobs, especially in 
education and in government services more generally. New Mexico's 
stimulus funding, alone, is expected to create about 22,000 jobs this 
year. This has had a significantly positive impact on the State's 
unemployment picture, but it is still not enough to fully address the 
needs created by the economic situation in which we find ourselves. 
Nationwide, for every job opening, there are six applicants. I was 
struck by the article on the front page of the New York Times this 
morning entitled ``$13 an Hour? 500 Sign Up, 1 Wins a Job.'' This was 
datelined Burns Harbor, IN. It says:

       As soon as the job opening was posted, on the afternoon of 
     Friday, July 10, the deluge began.
       C.R. England, a nationwide trucking company, needed an 
     administrative assistant for its bustling driver training 
     school here [in Indiana]. Responsibilities included data 
     entry, assembling paperwork and making copies.

  It goes on to quote the head of corporate recruiting. It says:

       When Stacey Ross, C.R. England's head of corporate 
     recruiting, arrived at her desk at the company's Salt Lake 
     City headquarters the next Monday, she found about 300 
     applications in the company''s e-mail inbox. And the fax 
     machine had spit out an inch-and-a-half thick stack of 
     resumes before running out of paper.

  The article goes on to point out the estimate is there were 500 
applications filed for this 1 job, a $13-an-hour job, but they took 
down the posting of the availability of the job.
  We have a very serious problem that needs addressing. The extension 
of unemployment benefits will not ease the worry of the unemployed. It 
will not eliminate the dread they have about the need to pay bills each 
month. But it will make things a little bit easier for some of those 
individuals. Extension will make it easier, not just for the direct 
recipients but for the larger economy as well. Economists tell us that 
for every $1 in unemployment benefits the government provides, $2.15 is 
generated throughout the economy. These economic benefits are felt most 
immediately, as benefit recipients use the funds almost immediately to 
meet their daily needs.
  The legislation the majority leader has filed, the petition to 
proceed to it, takes a responsible approach to providing these 
additional funds. The extension is paid for with an 18-month extension 
of the Federal unemployment tax, which has traditionally been used, 
both by Republicans and by Democratic administrations, for this very 
purpose. The extension is a responsible, well-thought-out response to 
the dire circumstances many Americans find themselves in today.
  As I said at the beginning, this should not be a partisan issue. 
Unemployment is affecting everyone, regardless of their political party 
or their ideology. I urge the Senate to set aside partisan politics and 
to agree to the majority leader's request that we proceed to this bill 
so we can quickly provide assistance to the thousands of Americans who 
depend upon these benefits as they continue to search for jobs.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, what is now the floor situation?

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