[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 828]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               EXTENDING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS TO WORKERS

  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, in past recessions Congress has been quick 
to extend benefits for the unemployed. Every recession over the past 
thirty years resulted in a extension of unemployment benefits. Helping 
unemployed workers has never been a partisan issue, both Democrats and 
Republicans have worked to help unemployed workers in times of economic 
difficulty. During the recession of the early 1990's we extended a 
total of 33 weeks of additional benefits. Current data shows this 
recession started last March, and we are only now taking steps to 
finally extend unemployment benefits. We have waited too long, but I am 
glad the day for action has come at last. I hope the other body will be 
able to quickly pass this legislation so that this delayed assistance 
will not be delayed any longer.
  While I am relieved the Senate has acted, I was disappointed we were 
not able to do more for workers. Helping people maintain health 
coverage while out of work would have gone a long way to making working 
families feel more secure. Covering part-time workers and the newly 
hired, and providing the States with the necessary funds to make those 
reforms, also would have helped this country on the road to economic 
recovery.
  While some of my colleagues believe that what we have done today will 
have little or no positive effect on the economy, I disagree. Extending 
benefits puts money into the hands of people who really need it, and 
people who will be forced to spend it. The money we send out will be 
spent on groceries, clothes, and mortgages. It will meet the day-to-day 
needs of working families, and it will be spent right in their 
communities. It will spur local economies and prevent the recession 
from deepening.
  An unemployment check is always second best to a paycheck. The 
142,000 workers in Wisconsin who have been forced to file for benefits 
want a job, they want to work, they want to contribute to the economy 
and pay taxes. Unemployment insurance is meant to help hard working 
people through difficult times. It is an insurance plan that workers 
and employers contribute to for emergencies just like today. American 
workers have paid for these benefits, they have earned them, and they 
deserve this extension.

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