[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 24, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    PENALIZING UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern that 
Republicans are attempting to penalize unemployed American citizens who 
do not have a high school diploma. Last month, House Republicans 
included a provision in the payroll tax cut bill, which is presently in 
conference, to establish an educational requirement for recipients of 
benefits.
  The provision, Mr. Speaker, would require recipients of unemployment 
benefits to have at least a high school diploma or a GED or be enrolled 
in classes to obtain such a degree. This requirement, Mr. Speaker, 
would affect an estimated 248,000 workers in the first 3 months of 
enactment, and disproportionately affect older workers, forcing certain 
unemployment recipients to either enroll in adult education programs or 
forego the benefits they need to support their families. This is a 
disgrace.
  In 2010, half a million workers age 50 or over who received 
unemployment insurance lacked a high school diploma. For most of these 
individuals who have worked more than 30 long years, returning to high 
school makes very little sense. They are the bricklayers and the 
carpenters and sanitation workers and housekeepers in our communities.
  In the case of workers under the age of 50, adult education might be 
useful, but is largely unattainable. Currently, State and local adult 
education programs do not have the capacity--we know that--do not have 
the capacity to meet this demand. Waiting lists for these programs are 
proliferating and certain to worsen due to a 20 percent decline over 
the past decade in Federal funding for adult education programs and $1 
billion in cuts to job-training programs in fiscal year 2011.
  Creating an educational mandate as a condition of eligibility to 
receive unemployment insurance benefits, Mr. Speaker, is punitive. It's 
misguided. It's egregious, even by current Republican standards.
  While there are certainly benefits to receiving at least a high 
school education, establishing a blanket policy that denies 
unemployment benefits to low-skill workers who have lost their jobs due 
to no fault of their own, without ensuring they have unrestricted 
access to educational opportunities, sets up hundreds of thousands of 
Americans to fail.
  It seems incredibly cynical to require participation in adult 
education and job training as a condition of receiving unemployment 
benefits while simultaneously eliminating meaningful Federal support 
for these programs.
  Mr. Speaker, it is unconscionable to put additional strings on this 
crucial relief that do nothing, nothing to address the real causes of 
the current unemployment crisis. It is a difficult time to be 
unemployed in America. It is a difficult time to be unemployed in 
America, but House Republicans seem determined to make it even more 
difficult.
  I urge my colleagues to join me and stand up against this education 
mandate and fight for policies that can actually help bring the 
unemployment crisis to resolve.

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