[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 110 (Monday, July 26, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION EXTENSION ACT OF 2010

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                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2010

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, Thursday the House took action to help 
nearly 2.5 million Americans with the very basic needs of putting food 
on the table and paying the bills by extending unemployment insurance. 
After weeks of Republican efforts to withhold these benefits, we are 
sending a lifeline to families while sending a jolt to our economy 
because most of the aid will be spent quickly on food, rent, and other 
necessities.
  The Emergency Unemployment Compensation, EUC, Program began to phase 
out at the end of May. This means individuals exhausting their 26 weeks 
of regular unemployment benefits since that time, or exhausting any of 
the tiers of Federal EUC benefits, are not eligible for emergency 
unemployment benefits. H.R. 4213 retroactively restores those benefits 
and continues the EUC program through November.
  Those in the Minority who are opposed to helping our middle class 
families often claim that providing unemployment insurance discourages 
Americans from seeking work. This couldn't be further from the truth. 
The Joint Economic Committee, which I chair, has just released its 2010 
Annual Report. One of the findings is that extending unemployment 
benefits does not discourage job seekers from looking for work. The JEC 
report finds that unemployment benefits actually serve to keep some 
workers attached to the labor force who might otherwise shift to other 
more costly government programs.
  By the end of the year, if no further action is taken, some 290,000 
unemployed disabled workers will exhaust their unemployment benefits, 
and two-thirds of these workers will leave the labor force and move 
onto the Social Security Disability Insurance program. Shifting these 
workers from the labor market and onto the SSDI rolls would be a $24.2 
billion lifetime cost. Compare that with the $721.3 million cost of 
extending unemployment benefits for these workers.
  These numbers demonstrate that extending unemployment benefits is not 
only morally right, it is the fiscally responsible thing to do.

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