[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 734]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    EXTENDING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I rise in support of legislation 
introduced this week to extend unemployment benefits temporarily as a 
means of stimulus. Like many of my colleagues I certainly have a list 
of ideas for best stimulating our struggling economy. But unemployment 
insurance certainly needs to be a part of the picture. I would like to 
thank Senator Kennedy for so quickly introducing this bill to extend 
current unemployment benefits by at least 20 weeks, and by an 
additional 13 weeks in States experiencing especially high unemployment 
rates.
  There are two key principles this legislation addresses. First, we 
need to make sure that we are prudently spending money in a way that 
encourages an increase in actual economic activity. Second, we need to 
help the people who are most hurt during difficult times. We need a 
combination of prudent fiscal policy and human compassion.
  So first, it is just plain good sense to target people who are 
unemployed. They are going to spend this money immediately on food and 
clothing, and this money will very quickly churn in the local economy. 
But equally importantly, the goal of stimulating the economy should be 
one of improving the quality of life for Americans. The people who are 
in the greatest need of help, directly hurt by economic decline, are 
those who have lost their jobs. It only makes sense that we make their 
needs a priority.
  I think that this period of economic difficulty also highlights the 
need to pass the broader unemployment reform efforts that Senator 
Kennedy is spearheading. While this stimulus measure will help many 
people who are unemployed, we need to cover part-time workers who have 
lost their jobs, and make sure we are counting all recent periods of 
work toward unemployment eligibility and levels.
  Extending unemployment benefits is regularly employed to stimulate a 
flagging economy, and these payments have been proven to quickly add 
demand to the economy. I hope that we are all in agreement that this is 
an essential component of any stimulus package.

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