[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 154 (Tuesday, November 30, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8290-S8291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I come to the floor to share 
letters from Ohioans from all corners of my State, letters mostly from 
people who have lost their jobs and depend on something called 
unemployment insurance. It is insurance, not welfare, not giveaways. 
People work at a business. Their employer pays into the unemployment 
insurance fund. Obviously, it is money the employee does not get as 
income, so we could say it either way: the employee pays or the 
employer pays. Either way it is insurance. They pay into a fund. When 
someone loses their job, they get assistance from the fund. This is why 
it works so well.
  When the unemployment rate is above a certain level, a relatively 
high unemployment rate, we always have extended and maintained 
unemployment insurance benefits for those workers who have lost jobs. 
We do that for two reasons: One, because it is the right thing to do if 
someone loses their job. Whether it is in Boulder in the State of the 
Presiding Officer or in Galion, OH, it is the humanitarian thing to do. 
That worker who has lost their job can at least pay most of their bills 
then, at least stay in the apartment or house and pay the mortgage, pay 
the rent, pay for food, take care of the kids. They wouldn't be able to 
without the unemployment insurance monthly payments.
  The second reason we do it is, as one of John McCain's chief economic 
advisers said repeatedly, a dollar in unemployment benefits is about 
the best stimulus for the economy one could have. When we give a tax 
cut to a millionaire, as most of my Republican colleagues want to do, 
if we give $10,000 to a millionaire, they will likely not spend it. 
They have already spent their money on what they want because they have 
more than enough to do that. So a tax cut doesn't mean much to them. 
But an unemployment check means that an unemployed worker will spend 
that money in the community, at the grocery store, buying shoes for the 
kids, paying the property tax, paying for their rent and gas bill, 
paying for gas in the car to go around looking for jobs. The money is 
recirculated. It is a good economic stimulus and the right thing to do 
for the worker who has lost their job. That is why the Presiding 
Officer and others have fought so hard to make sure those benefits are 
there. It is not welfare; it is insurance.
  In spite of what some conservative politicians like to suggest, that 
it is people sitting around who don't want to work, almost everybody I 
talked to--whether it was in Conneaut or Middleton or Sidney or 
Portsmouth--who lost a job wants to go back to work. Unemployment 
compensation is never as much as the person is making on the job. That 
is under a formula. That is why they want to go back to work. Plus 
these are hard-working people who understand that they need to keep 
looking for a job.
  For every job out there, there are roughly five people seeking a job. 
That is a national figure. But in Ohio, it is no better. That is why I 
am going to share these letters.
  I will start with Timothy from Fairfield. That is a prosperous 
suburban Cincinnati community in Butler County in southwest Ohio. It 
happens everywhere, not just the inner city, not just rural Appalachia. 
It is not just small towns or medium-size cities. It is generally 
pretty affluent suburbs.
  He writes:

       Unemployment extensions end in about two weeks and once 
     again my family worries about what the future will bring.
       The last delay made us unable to pay many bills on time and 
     we still have not fully recovered.
       If another delay happens we will certainly be put in such a 
     hole that I don't see us getting out of.
       Not to mention it's the holiday season and I really don't 
     know what I would tell my 4 and 7 year old if Christmas 
     wasn't as it has been in the past.
       I am in the manufacturing field. I worked as an inspector 
     and quality engineer.
       This next week will be my first of my final 20 weeks of 
     Ohio emergency unemployment. I search for openings in quality 
     inspectors and quality engineers within a 50 mile radius of 
     our town.

  How is he going to afford gas if his unemployment extension runs out?

       I found zero results. I have been applying for retail jobs, 
     janitorial jobs, and maintenance jobs.
       If I even get to interview the answer is the same. You are 
     way overqualified for this job.
       I was told that the new sporting goods store had over 3,000 
     applicants.
       Are both sides willing to do what needs to be done to avoid 
     another delay? I don't know what we will do if the extension 
     is not passed in time.

  It is unbelievable that my conservative colleagues are willing to 
give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires but are unwilling to 
maintain unemployment benefits for people such as Timothy. When one 
thinks about that, it is also the anxiety that somebody like Tim feels 
about his children, about his house, about his being able to provide 
what he needs during the Christmas season or any other season. So many 
people in this country have to wait until the Republicans drop their 
filibuster in order for us to maintain these benefits. That is pretty 
unconscionable.
  Kelly from Summit County, the Akron area in northeast Ohio, writes:

       Please help get the unemployment extension passed during 
     this session.
       I am about to exhaust my benefits in three weeks. Everyday 
     I look for employment, but to no avail.
       My mortgage company leaves no room for late or missing 
     payments.
       I don't need the money for Christmas--I need it to pay my 
     bills and my mortgage.
       There will be no Christmas this year, especially when I 
     begin to get behind on payments.

  Kelly says what so many are saying in letters to our office, that 
this is essential. Getting this relatively meager unemployment 
assistance, not a lot of money but enough to at least pay her rent--
although I don't know if Kelly is male or female--but to pay the rent, 
not Christmas presents, nothing elaborate, not even Christmas dinner 
but to just pay the rent.
  Richard from Summit County says:

       I am writing to share the reality of my situation that I'm 
     sure millions are also experiencing. Today I filed my final 
     claim for unemployment. This is the moment that made me lay 
     awake at night. The reality is at our home there will be no 
     Thanksgiving and no Christmas this year. I hear carols being 
     played, I see ads for Christmas sales. It makes me depressed 
     like never before. I feel the gifts and celebrations are 
     meant for other people--the ``haves.'' No more money for my 
     diabetes medicine, dental checkups, eye drops for glaucoma. 
     Never have I felt like throwing in the towel before now.

  I just wish my colleagues would talk to people like Richard: When I 
hear carols being played for Christmas sales, it makes me depressed 
like never before. I feel the gifts and celebrations are meant for 
other people. No more money for my diabetes meds, no more dental 
checkups, no more eye drops for glaucoma.
  Unemployment benefits are not going to make him comfortable or rich, 
but it will help him get through these rough times. Instead, to make a 
political point, my colleagues are saying we are not going to maintain 
unemployment benefits.
  The last one I will read is from Jacqueline from Cuyahoga County in 
the Cleveland area:


[[Page S8291]]


       I have been an unemployed human resources professional for 
     a year and a half. Even after having applied for over 170 
     jobs, I am still very active in my job search.

  These are not people sitting around cashing their checks. She is 
still very active in her job search.

       I go to at least 2 networking events/meetings per week and 
     I keep a positive attitude in spite of my situation. Yes, I 
     have applied for jobs in other fields or professions which 
     use similar and transferable skills. I get no response. I 
     have worked with recruiters and head hunters, online 
     networks, and have appealed to friends and family members to 
     look for opportunities. I have worked full-time since I was 
     16 years old, even through college. At age 45 and as an 
     educated professional with so much to offer an organization, 
     I still want to work for many more years.

  She has worked since she was 16. She is now 45. She has worked twice 
as long as almost the age of these pages who sit in front of us. She 
has worked for 29 years. She is not a deadbeat. She doesn't want to sit 
around and collect unemployment. She wants a job. As I said, there are 
five people pursuing every job out there.

       Without unemployment benefits, my family would have lost 
     our home by now. I am begging you to fight to extend 
     unemployment benefits until more companies start hiring. 
     Please don't let 15 million Americans have to worry about 
     feeding their families this winter. Please urge your 
     colleagues to pass an unemployment benefit extension before 
     December 1.

  December 1 is approaching. We still can't get our Republican 
colleagues--it is pretty unbelievable. We have been through this for 
the third time, I believe, in the last year or so where we have begged 
and cajoled and pleaded and asked and done whatever we can to get our 
colleagues to say yes, to not filibuster, to get our colleagues to say 
yes, to get the supermajority, the 60 votes we need to extend the 
unemployment benefits.
  There is a lot of fear out there. Whether it is in Denver or 
Cleveland, whether it is in Trinidad or Mansfield, there is all kinds 
of anxiety and fear and anguish out there. We could do something in 
this body to lessen it for our fellow Americans.
  I ask my colleagues to move forward in maintaining unemployment 
benefits for the millions of Americans for whom the Christmas season, 
the holiday season will not be very happy this year.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning 
business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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