[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H26]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PASS EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the House to consider 
and pass emergency unemployment benefits for the 1.3 million long-term 
unemployed American workers.
  On December 28, 82,000 Illinois workers' unemployment insurance 
expired--38,000 of those workers in Cook County and 5,000 more in 
DuPage. The Senate has agreed on a bipartisan basis to extend emergency 
unemployment insurance, and the House should act today to do the same.
  Opponents of extending emergency unemployment insurance may say isn't 
the emergency over? While the economy on the whole has improved, there 
is still an emergency, a jobs emergency.
  There are 2.9 unemployed workers for every available job. Long-term 
unemployment is still at the highest rate we have seen in this country 
since World War II. Opponents of extending emergency unemployment 
insurance criticize the long-term unemployed, belittling their efforts 
to find work in this economy. For the worker out of a job for 27 weeks 
or longer, you have just a 12 percent chance of finding a new job 
within the month. These numbers continue to fall with each passing 
week. These workers face challenges to their health, to their mental 
well-being, and they often struggle with family relationships.
  I left Chicago yesterday, where Illinois has the fourth highest 
unemployment rate in the country. Yet I come to Washington to inaction 
on unemployment insurance and jobs legislation. Instead of blaming 
workers, let us as Members of Congress look in the mirror. What have we 
done to address the issue of long-term unemployment?
  Last year, we took dozens of votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, 
but we have done little to create jobs. We have done nothing to advance 
immigration reform, which will infuse over $1 trillion in our economy 
over the next 20 years and create jobs. We have done little to address 
the Nation's long-term transportation needs by investing in 
infrastructure, which will create jobs. We have done little to invest 
in research and education, which will grow our economy and make us more 
globally competitive, all of which create jobs.
  Instead of playing politics, let us take it upon ourselves to pass 
meaningful jobs legislation, and let us extend benefits to these 
workers in their time of need.

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