[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 8, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 8, 2012

  Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about an 
irresponsible Republican bill that will soon come to this Floor. This 
measure is an attack on those who are unemployed at when they need the 
most assistance. I am not alone in my outrage, I am joined by Members 
of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, to call attention to this 
repeated attack on workers in this country who find themselves without 
a job at this time.
  When the Great Depression was upon us Congress did not put forth 
education requirements in order for unemployed men and women to get 
potential future jobs, Congress along with the President worked 
together to create jobs. It is my hope that this Congress will work 
together with the President to put Americans back to work.
  This bill proposed by my Republican colleagues is the latest chapter 
in the Republican scheme to sabotage our recovery. It is a known fact 
that when Americans have more money in their pockets, they spend it 
which enhances our economy. When Americans have more money in their 
pockets then small businesses can hire more workers which creates more 
American jobs. Unemployment Insurance pays for itself.
  Last December, Republicans threatened to terminate the last bit of 
income received by over one million unemployed Americans by refusing to 
extend unemployment benefits. Now that our economy is on the road to 
recovery, Washington Republicans, once again, aim to take money out of 
the pockets of working Americans. Slashing unemployment benefits would 
cut off a lifeline that more than 1 million Americans depend on to put 
food on their tables.
  This latest Republican scheme would hit hardest states with the most 
Americans looking for work. They intend to cut the length of 
unemployment benefits from 73 weeks to 33 weeks in 22 states.
  Under the Republican plan more than 194,000 Texans would lose their 
Unemployment benefits. Even with the recent good news on job creation, 
long-term unemployment remains at near record levels.
  This is primarily because our economy still has 5.5 million fewer 
jobs than before the recession, which makes returning to work 
particularly difficult right now. Rather than acknowledge these facts, 
Republicans in Congress seem intent on blaming the unemployed for their 
unemployment.
  The Republican proposal on unemployment insurance would result in 40 
fewer weeks being provided to many long-term unemployed workers, 
reducing benefits to nearly 3 million workers compared to an extension 
of current law.
  The draconian cut in the Republican bill is squarely focused on the 
States with the highest rates on unemployment--the same places where 
finding a new job is the hardest. Consider this fact: under the GOP 
bill, a worker in the State with the highest level of unemployment 
would lose nearly three times as many weeks of benefits as a worker in 
the State with the lowest unemployment.
  In addition to drastically cutting Federal unemployment benefits, the 
House bill proposes a series of new barriers to unemployment benefits 
that would reduce access to UI for years to come. Many of these 
provisions are changes to permanent law, not to the temporary federal 
programs that were established in response to the worst recession since 
the great depression.


                          STATE WAIVER OPTION

  Creating new barriers to unemployment insurance is not reform. 
Instead, it amounts to breaking the promise made nearly 80 years ago to 
help Americans struggling to find a new job. The House Republican bill 
would allow States to divert UI funds for other purposes if they get a 
waiver. This waiver authority could lead to jobless Americans being 
denied unemployment benefits, or to new roadblocks that hinder access 
to benefits.


                    HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA REQUIREMENT

  Another very disturbing feature of the House Republican bill is a 
provision that would require Unemployment Insurance (UI) recipients to 
have a high school degree or to be working toward one to be eligible 
for benefits. This means a fifty year old worker who has worked his or 
her entire life would have to go back to high school to get 
unemployment benefits. And you might ask who will pay for hundreds of 
thousands of people to get their GED. The Republican bill has no 
answer, even when we already have an estimated 160,000 people on 
waiting lists for adult education classes.


                        DRUG TESTING REQUIREMENT

  A third objectionable provision in the Republican bill would allow 
States to subject all applicants for Ul to drug tests. This provision 
seems part of a larger agenda to stigmatize unemployment insurance by 
suggesting that Americans are jobless because of their own failings, 
rather than because our economy still has over five million fewer jobs 
than when the recession started.
  States already deny benefits to any individual who has been fired 
from their job because of a substance abuse problem, and States can 
disqualify a UI recipient if he or she is unwilling to take a drug test 
if required by a prospective employer.
  We don't need to further target unemployment insurance recipients 
with drug tests. Congress should avoid policies like these that seek to 
blame the unemployed for unemployment, and instead work on commonsense 
policies that promote reemployment.

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