[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 4027]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             IRA WITHDRAWAL

  Mr. PRYOR. Madam President, in the year 2000, there were 38 million 
families in this country who owned an individual retirement account or 
participated in an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. Since 
then, unemployment has climbed to 8.3 million people, with more than 
1.9 million individuals unemployed more than 6 months.
  Six months without work is a long time, and it is enough time for 
people to lose their homes, give up their health care, run through 
their savings, and ruin their credit for many years to come. I know 
this because I hear from people in Arkansas who have gone from living 
the family dream, to living off of their families, and eventually 
living off of Government help.
  To add salt to the wound for many unemployed Americans, those 
individuals who are fortunate enough to have an individual retirement 
account are penalized a minimum of 10 percent if they withdraw funds 
from their account.
  Recognizing that some significant events might require people to 
withdraw money from their retirement accounts earlier than expected, 
Congress has on previous occasions provided exceptions to the 10-
percent early withdrawal penalty; for example, buying their first home 
or maybe even sending their children to college.
  I am offering a commonsense amendment that could make a real 
difference for individuals who have invested in their IRA but have 
exhausted all of their unemployment benefits while searching for a job.
  I am asking Congress to make another exception because our job 
creation figures continue to disappoint, economic growth continues to 
linger, and our manufacturing jobs continue to leave the country. I 
think these are significant events as well.
  My amendment is a sense of the Senate and allows individuals who have 
exhausted their unemployment benefits a one-time withdrawal of up to 
$15,000 from their IRAs, tax free and without penalty, within 1 year 
after their unemployment benefits end.
  In many cases, my amendment would free up enough money for a few 
months of rent or mortgage payments, child care expenses, groceries, 
and other living expenses.
  Regardless of what you believe, regardless of your party affiliation, 
we cannot dismiss these new numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
that indicate the average length of unemployment in this country is at 
a 20-year high.
  We cannot expect Americans to be patient as they watch their bills 
pile up, and we cannot tell these families to keep their fingers 
crossed any longer while we do nothing to help them. After all, this 
money in their IRA accounts is their money. Imagine a family whose 
breadwinner is now on the unemployment rolls, and he or she has this 
retirement nest egg sitting there and they have some real needs in the 
family but they cannot touch their own money without penalty or paying 
taxes on accessing that money.
  Madam President, I ask my colleagues to express their support 
tomorrow for the individuals who are in a tough position because of 
tough times and allow them to use funds from their own IRAs without 
penalty.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana is recognized.

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