[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 176 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H7719-H7720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Lee) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to really beat the 
drum about the ongoing crisis of poverty and unemployment in America.
  On November 6, the Associated Press reported that we have crossed a 
terrible threshold. More job seekers now in America have run out of 
unemployment benefits than are receiving them. Simply put, the majority 
of Americans who are struggling to find a job are no longer getting 
unemployment benefits.
  We need to extend unemployment benefits and we need to do it now, not 
just for those who are about to run out, but for the millions of 
Americans whose benefits ran out a long time ago--the millions who ran 
out of time to establish their careers, the millions who ran out of 
time to safeguard their families' futures, and the millions who ran out 
of time to ignite the fires of the American Dream.
  Congressman Bobby Scott and I have a bill, H.R. 589, which will give 
millions of families just a little more time to find a good job, to 
make a secure home, and would provide a bridge over troubled waters 
while our Nation and the economy recovers.
  Extending benefits for the 99ers is the right thing to do for 
millions of Americans who were laid off through no fault of their own. 
They watched as corporations took over their government and ran the 
economy into the ground. They watched as the banks raided the Nation's 
treasury and lined their pockets with massive bonuses while millions of 
Americans lost their jobs. They watched as our Nation's future was 
traded away for needless wars and tax cuts for billionaires.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people are sick and tired. They don't want 
to watch anymore. They don't want to wait anymore. They have run out of 
time.
  Nearly 50 million Americans are already living in poverty, struggling 
to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. Countless 
millions more are living on the edge. They are desperately trying to 
stay one step ahead of disaster, living from paycheck to paycheck and 
waiting for the other shoe to drop.
  The American people really have run out of patience. They don't want 
to hear that the most powerful nation in the world is broke. They don't 
believe it when they are told that we can't afford Medicare or Medicaid 
or Social Security or unemployment benefits when we are spending $1 
trillion on wars halfway around the world. They don't want to hear 
empty promises from Republicans in Congress about taking responsibility 
to ensure that the poor in America have ``food in their stomachs and 
they have a roof over their head,''

[[Page H7720]]

even while they pass bills that slash affordable housing programs and 
cut nutrition funding for women and children, a program which is very 
important.
  Americans know that the rich should pay their fair share and that 
working men and women of America deserve more. They don't want this 
generation to be the first generation of Americans who won't do better 
than the last one. Americans want to move ahead, and they want those 
who have benefited the most from our economy to pay what they owe to 
the 99 percent of the American people who are the real engines of our 
economy and the heart of our democracy. The generation that is marching 
in the streets right now is asking what went wrong in the pursuit of 
the American Dream.
  So let's pass H.R. 589 and give Americans a little more time to land 
that job that gets their family back on their feet. You know, when you 
run out of unemployment benefits after 99 weeks, that's it. That's it. 
So we must extend unemployment benefits, but we also need to extend, as 
our bill says, at least an additional 14 weeks so that those who have 
hit the 99-week wall have some form of survival until we can figure out 
a way to create jobs.
  So we must pass the American Jobs Act to reinvest in the future of 
this country and build up our roads and bridges, repair our sewer 
lines, and build 21st century schools for all of our students.
  Let's put America back on track with American jobs, American 
manufacturing, American ingenuity, and American leadership toward a 
brighter tomorrow for all Americans.
  We must build these ladders of opportunity. We have to remove these 
barriers and obstacles. And let me tell you, not having a job is a huge 
barrier and a huge obstacle to reigniting the American Dream.
  And so we must extend unemployment benefits, but we must not forget 
that there are those who have had 99 weeks who are no longer even 
eligible for unemployment benefits. And as the AP article says, we now 
have over 2 million people who won't even be eligible for unemployment 
compensation. That's 2.2 million people that won't even be eligible 
even if we extend unemployment benefits.
  So let's work to try to figure out how to, one, create jobs, but to 
provide some safety net for those who really do want to work. And 
people want to work.

               [From the Associated Press, Nov. 6, 2011]

Most Unemployed Americans Are No Longer Receiving Unemployment Benefits

       Washington, DC.--The jobs crisis has left so many people 
     out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are 
     no longer receiving unemployment benefits.
       Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The 
     figure is now 48 percent--a shift that points to a growing 
     crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of 
     America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or 
     more.
       Congress is expected to decide by year's end whether to 
     continue providing emergency unemployment benefits for up to 
     99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. If the emergency benefits 
     expire, the proportion of the unemployed receiving aid would 
     fall further.
       The ranks of the poor would also rise. The Census Bureau 
     says unemployment benefits kept 3.2 million people from 
     slipping into poverty last year. It defines poverty as annual 
     income below $22,314 for a family of four.
       Yet for a growing share of the unemployed, a vote in 
     Congress to extend the benefits to 99 weeks is irrelevant. 
     They've had no job for more than 99 weeks. They're no longer 
     eligible for benefits.
       Their options include food stamps or other social programs. 
     Nearly 46 million people received food stamps in August, a 
     record total. That figure could grow as more people lose 
     unemployment benefits.
       So could the government's disability rolls. Applications 
     for the disability insurance program have jumped about 50 
     percent since 2007.
       ``There's going to be increased hardship,'' said Wayne 
     Vroman, an economist at the Urban Institute.
       The number of unemployed has been roughly stable this year. 
     Yet the number receiving benefits has plunged 30 percent.
       Government unemployment benefits weren't designed to 
     sustain people for long stretches without work. They usually 
     don't have to. In the recoveries from the previous three 
     recessions, the longest average duration of unemployment was 
     21 weeks, in July 1983.
       By contrast, in the wake of the Great Recession, the figure 
     reached 41 weeks in September. That's the longest on records 
     dating to 1948. The figure is now 39 weeks.
       ``It was a good safety net for a shorter recession,'' said 
     Carl Van Horn, an economist at Rutgers University. It assumes 
     ``the economy will experience short interruptions and then go 
     back to normal.''
       Weekly unemployment checks average about $300 nationwide. 
     If the extended benefits aren't renewed, growth could slow by 
     up to a half-percentage point next year, economists say.
       The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that each $1 
     spent on unemployment benefits generates up to $1.90 in 
     economic growth. The CB0 has found that the program is the 
     most effective government policy for increasing growth among 
     11 options it's analyzed.
       Jon Polis lives in East Greenwich, R.I., one of the 20 
     states where 99 weeks of benefits are available. He used them 
     all up after losing his job as a warehouse worker in 2008. 
     His benefits paid for groceries, car maintenance and health 
     insurance.
       Now, Polis, 55, receives disability insurance payments, 
     food stamps and lives in government-subsidized housing. He's 
     been unable to find work because employers in his field want 
     computer skills he doesn't have.
       ``Employers are crying that they can't find qualified 
     help,'' he said. But the ones he interviewed with ``weren't 
     willing to train anybody.''
       From late 2007, when the recession began, to early 2010, 
     the number of people receiving unemployment benefits rose 
     more than four-fold, to 11.5 million.
       But the economy has remained so weak that an analysis of 
     long-term unemployment data suggests that about 2 million 
     people have used up 99 weeks of checks and still can't find 
     work.
       Contributing to the smaller share of the unemployed who are 
     receiving benefits: Some of them are college graduates or 
     others seeking jobs for the first time. They aren't eligible. 
     Only those who have lost a job through no fault of their own 
     qualify.
       The proportion of the unemployed receiving benefits usually 
     falls below 50 percent during an economic recovery. Many have 
     either quit jobs or are new to the job market and don't 
     qualify.
       Today, the proportion is falling for a very different 
     reason: Jobs remain scarce. So more of the unemployed are 
     exhausting their benefits.
       Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has noted that the 
     long-term unemployed increasingly find it hard to find work 
     as their skills and professional networks erode. In a speech 
     last month, Bernanke called long-term unemployment a 
     ``national crisis'' that should be a top priority for 
     Congress.
       Lawmakers will have to decide whether to continue the 
     extended benefits by the end of this year. If the program 
     ends, nearly 2.2 million people will be cut off by February.
       Congress has extended the program nine times. But it might 
     balk at the $45 billion cost. It will be the first time the 
     Republican-led House will vote on the issue.

                          ____________________