[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.
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