[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 22]
[Senate]
[Page 30540]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




S. 1896, THE TAX RELIEF EXTENSION ACT, AND H.R. 1664, THE ARMED FORCES 
                            TAX FAIRNESS ACT

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, consistent with my policy of publishing in 
the Record a statement whenever I place a hold on legislation, I am 
announcing my intention to object to any unanimous consent request on 
S. 1896, the Tax Relief Extension Act, and to H.R. 1664, the Armed 
Forces Tax Fairness Act. I am doing so because these bills are the only 
relevant amendable legislation expected to be taken up in the Senate 
before the end of the current session and, therefore, they provide the 
only opportunity to extend unemployment benefits before they expire at 
the end of the year.
  Oregon currently has the highest unemployment rate in the Nation with 
an unemployment rate of 8 percent. Extension of unemployment benefits 
is critical for many Oregonians who are in jeopardy of running out of 
benefits if they are not extended before the end of the year. In order 
to ensure unemployed workers in Oregon and many other states will not 
be left without benefits, I am objecting to unanimous consent on S. 
1896 or H.R. 1664, unless extension of unemployment benefits and reform 
of a lookback rule that affects Oregon and other high unemployment 
states is included as part of the legislation.

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