[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2174]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 EXTENSION OF TEMPORARY EXTENDED UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACT OF 2002

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                               speech of

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 8, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I am voting for this bill because 
it is urgently needed. Its enactment will prevent the cutoff of some 
unemployment benefits--a cutoff that otherwise would occur very soon.
  In other words, by passing this bill we can save many people who are 
out of a job from the harm that otherwise would result from the refusal 
of the Republican leadership of the House to deal with this last year.
  That is the right thing to do, even at this late date--and so I will 
support it.
  But while this bill is necessary, it definitely is not sufficient. It 
does not cover everyone who should be covered. In fact, it will do 
nothing to help a million or more people who are out of work and who 
have used up all their federal benefits. The statistics I have seen 
indicate that at least 17,000 Coloradans fall into that category.
  Those people are no less in need of assistance to enable them to pay 
their bills and feed their families while they look for work. It is not 
their fault that since the current downturn began more than 1.5 million 
jobs have been eliminated from the economy--and while the best response 
to their problems will be to revive the economy so that new jobs will 
be created, in the meantime we need to make it possible for them to 
make ends meet until that recovery really gets underway.
  In the meantime, this bill does need to be passed. But it should be 
just the first step--and not the last one--to respond to the economic 
problems of Colorado and the rest of the country.

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