[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 26 (Friday, February 26, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S818-S820]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last night a number of Senators stayed on 
the floor until almost midnight--I thank the staff and pages for their 
endurance and patience.
  This was over an issue that was critically important to our Nation. 
It is an issue which relates to this recession we are in and the fact 
that literally millions of Americans in every State across America are 
out of work and doing their very best to find jobs. It is not easy. 
There are as many as four unemployed workers for every available job. 
People are taking jobs that pay substantially less than what they are 
used to earning in the hopes of keeping their family together and 
weathering this economic storm.
  Some of the sacrifices that are being made will literally change 
lives and families forever. People are losing their homes because of 
the loss of jobs. Folks are finding their kids have to drop out of 
college and come home because the families can no longer help them 
afford to pay for tuition and the expense of higher education. So many 
families in desperate straits are turning to the food banks in cities 
across America. As I visit these food banks, they tell me there is a 
dramatic increase in the number of people who come in looking for the 
basic food they need to put on the table to keep their families 
together.
  Some of these families have lost their health insurance. It is one of 
the first casualties of losing a job. Unless you have lived as a father 
of a sick child without health insurance, you cannot imagine what goes 
through his mind in that circumstance. It happened to me when I was 
first married and did not have health insurance. I had a sick baby. My 
wife and I just prayed we could find the care she needed when we did 
not have health insurance to cover it.
  For millions of Americans, that is not only a threat, it is a 
reality. When you look at this hardship many Americans are facing, 
through no fault of their own and despite their heroic efforts to put 
their lives back on track, I believe it is unthinkable, unforgivable 
that we would cut off unemployment insurance payments to these people; 
that we would cut off COBRA payments which help them to pay for their 
health insurance while they are unemployed.
  Yet that is what is going to happen Sunday night. It is because the 
Senator from Kentucky has objected to extending unemployment insurance 
payments and COBRA health insurance payments for 30 days. In my State, 
there are 15,000 people who do not realize this morning but will come 
to realize Monday morning that their lives have dramatically changed. 
They are not only out of work and they are struggling to survive, but 
that one lifeline, that unemployment check that keeps them together, 
that provides $250 a week so they can get on with life and try to turn 
the corner, is going to disappear.
  You say: Well, why? What is it that has brought us to the point where 
we

[[Page S819]]

as a nation would cut off help for our own people? The Senator from 
Kentucky explained last night it is because he wants to balance the 
budget. He wants to cut the deficit. He is concerned about the debt.
  Well, I share his concerns. What was said last night by so many 
Members on this side of the aisle, which is, for goodness' sake, find a 
way to express your political views that is not at the expense of 
helpless people.
  That is why so many Members stayed here until almost midnight talking 
about it. Senator Stabenow from Michigan, what a terrible economic 
situation in her State. One out of six people in her State is on food 
stamps. They have had high unemployment for the longest time because of 
the loss of manufacturing jobs and other employment opportunities.
  It is an awful situation, repeated in Rhode Island, where they have 
one of the highest unemployment rates in the Nation. They were the 
first in the recession and are struggling to get through it. It is a 
small State in comparison to Illinois or Michigan. But when Senator 
Jack Reed and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse came to the floor, they talked 
about hundreds of people in their State who will be cut off from 
unemployment checks as of Sunday night because of the objection of one 
Senator who says we have to learn our lesson about deficits.
  The simple fact is, this is an emergency situation and should be 
treated as such. If the floodwaters were rising in Kentucky or Illinois 
and people were displaced from their homes, desperate to survive, we 
would not sit down and do a calculation about whether to send them 
emergency aid, we would do it because we are a nation that cares and a 
nation that responds and we believe helpless victims deserve a helping 
hand. These are helpless victims of the recession, and their helping 
hand is an unemployment check that will be cut off Sunday night because 
of the objection of one Senator.
  Some came to the floor last night--Senator Corker of Tennessee, whom 
I respect--and said: I do not think you ought to be doing this. I do 
not think this is the way the Senate should work, that we should come 
and renew the unanimous consent request to extend unemployment for 30 
days.
  I would say to Senator Corker, whom I respect, and Senator Bunning, 
whom I respect very much: We were caught by surprise last night. We 
could not believe we would actually have the Senate go home to our home 
States, to the loving arms of our families, to a relaxing weekend, and 
know that, Sunday night, unemployment checks were going to be cut off 
across America for hundreds of thousands of people.
  That came as a surprise to me last night. That is why we gathered on 
the floor and talked about the economy and this issue. We talked about 
the deficit, and we pointed out to the Senator from Kentucky that he 
has voted for tax cuts that were not paid for, obviously that added to 
the Nation's deficit. He has voted for programs not paid for that added 
to the Nation's deficit.
  Yet now he has decided to make his stand, not when it comes to tax 
cuts for the wealthy but unemployment benefits for the poorest 
struggling families in America. It is a stark contrast. Last night, we 
begged him to save this debt debate for a different day and a different 
issue and please do not victimize these helpless people who are 
struggling to get by. We were not successful in that effort.
  I do not know if the Senator has had a change of heart today. I hope 
he has. I am going to renew my unanimous consent request that I made 
last night. I hope we can agree to go forward. I certainly would say to 
the Senator from Kentucky, we have ample opportunity in the days ahead 
to debate this deficit and debt, in the budget resolution, in our 
appropriations process, in virtually every bill that comes before us.
  Why did he pick the unemployed families of America, falling behind, 
losing their homes, struggling to survive, to make his political point 
about debt and deficit?
  One of the Senators said: Oh, in a week or so we will probably send 
those benefits along. I guess that is true. I hope it is true. We may 
eat up 3 or 4 days on the floor of the Senate to get it done, instead 
of instantly doing it this morning, as we can in the process.
  In my State, the State of Virginia, the State of Kentucky, there will 
be unemployed people who will not receive their checks and will go 
through the anxiety of wondering what happened in Washington that 
caused them to lose that check they needed so desperately to keep their 
home, to care for their kids, and to try to turn their lives around and 
get another job.
  That, to me, is an unacceptable approach to governing. It is one I 
hope we do not do in the future. It is the reason we stayed so late 
last night to speak to this issue.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of H.R. 4691, a 30-day extension of the 
provisions which expire on Sunday, February 28: unemployment insurance, 
COBRA, flood insurance, Satellite Home Viewer Act, highway funding, SBA 
business loans, and small business provisions of the American Recovery 
Act, SGR, and poverty guidelines, received from the House and at the 
desk; that the bill be read three times, passed and the motion to 
reconsider be made and laid upon the table.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. BUNNING. First of all, let me say this, that I believe the 
Senator from Illinois is correct that everybody in this Chamber wants 
to extend unemployment benefits, COBRA health care benefits, flood 
insurance, the highway bill assistance, medical doc fix, small business 
loans, and rural satellite television for our viewers who cannot get 
cable.
  I will not object if the Senator from Illinois amends his unanimous 
consent request to adopt my amendment or any amendment that pays for 
the bill--we had a pay-go vote last week, and the Senate voted to pay 
for all the bills that come through--or I will not continue my 
reservation, I will not object if the Senator from Illinois would spend 
the $10 billion it costs to renew these extenders for 30 days.
  For example, we could do an across-the-board rescission of the 
bloated Omnibus appropriations bill that was passed for this fiscal 
year, which increased appropriations by 10 percent. That is just one, 
besides my pay-for, which you have objected to. If we cannot find $10 
billion somewhere for a bill that everybody in this body supports, we 
will never pay for anything.
  I continue my objection.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, earlier this week, the Senator from 
Kentucky made the same request. The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, 
said to the Senator from Kentucky: I will give you a chance to come to 
the floor with your paid-for amendment, fully debate it, and put it up 
for a vote.
  If you can convince a majority of the Senate to do that, you will 
prevail.
  If you can't, then we will treat this as we have so often, as 
emergency spending, and proceed to help these unemployed people. The 
Senator from Kentucky rejected that and said he did not want to bring 
this matter to the floor for a vote because he might lose. I think it 
is possible he might lose.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The time of the Senator has 
expired.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent for 2 additional minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. If he has a way to pay for this and wants to offer it as 
an amendment on the floor, we have given him the opportunity to do 
that. But for him to say he wants to dictate how this is going to be 
paid for from sources that, frankly, many of us believe are not 
realistic in any way whatsoever--he wanted to take the money from the 
Recovery and Reinvestment Act that has already been committed to 
construction projects and to tax cuts across America; he wants to take 
that money and reduce tax cuts for working families--I would vote 
against that. I think that is very shortsighted and would hurt the 
economy rather than help it. If he wants to make across-the-board cuts 
in appropriations bills, he ought to have an opportunity to offer

[[Page S820]]

that amendment, and he has had that opportunity. But he doesn't choose 
to do that. He wants to be guaranteed he will win. There are no 
guarantees you can win.
  There is a guarantee, because of his objection, that hundreds of 
thousands of unemployed Americans will lose. Come Sunday night, they 
will have their checks cut off. To be told people have a beating heart 
and care about unemployed people and to cut off their unemployment 
checks just doesn't track. I don't think it is any comfort to these 
families to believe you care, but you are going to cut off their checks 
anyway. What point are we making--how hard we can be, how tough we can 
be? At what expense? The most vulnerable families in America are going 
to suffer because of this political decision by one Senator. I think 
that is unfortunate. I am sorry he has objected.
  I promised I would not renew the request this morning, but we will be 
back. We will try to get this done. I say those families, hang in 
there. After the politicians are finished with speeches and debates, 
America will not give up on you. It is going to be tough for a while, 
while we work out this political difference, but, unfortunately, that 
reflects the Senate and where it is today.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of H.R. 4691; that the amendment 
at the desk, which offers a full offset, be agreed to, the bill, as 
amended, be read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider 
be laid on the table.
  Mr. DURBIN. I object.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
  Mr. BUNNING. We have tried to work this out with the majority, 
particularly after the pay-go vote last week. When 100 Senators are for 
a bill and we can't find $10 billion to pay for it, there is something 
the matter, seriously the matter with this body. I said that last 
night. I don't wish to repeat myself. I have offered several ways to 
pay for it. If everybody in this Chamber--and there are no Senators 
except me here right now, but there are 100 Members of this body--
believes, as the Senator from Illinois does, that this is essential and 
we should pass it, then we should pay for it. There are going to be 
other bills brought to the floor that are not going to be paid for, and 
I am going to object every time they do it. I don't much agree with the 
Chairman of the Federal Reserve, but it was striking yesterday when he 
said if the present level of debt and the present administration's 
budget is passed, the debt of the United States will be unsustainable. 
``Unsustainable'' to me means there is a chance of one of the rating 
agencies downgrading the rating on our debt. We cannot allow that to 
happen. I have too many young grandchildren who want America to be the 
same America I grew up in. I am worried to death that will not be the 
case.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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