[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22500]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   STATEMENT REGARDING VOTE ON H.R. 3548, UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION 
                         EXTENSION ACT OF 2009

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LAMAR SMITH

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 23, 2009

  Mr. SMITH of Texas. Mr. Speaker, on September 22, 2009, I voted 
``no'' on H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 
2009. As of August 2009, the State of Texas had 966,000 people who were 
unemployed. This amounts an unemployment rate of 8.0 percent but this 
legislation only applied to states with unemployment over 8.5 percent 
so unemployed Texans were not eligible. I would have voted for H.R. 
3548 because so many people across the country continue to be 
unemployed if the bill had not discriminated against Texas and 22 other 
states with unemployment rates lower than 8.5 percent.
  The State of Texas has many counties and communities where the 
unemployment rate is higher than 8.5 percent. Many more individuals 
should have qualified for these benefits. Furthermore, since employers 
in Texas continue to pay the taxes that pay for these benefits, they 
are subsidizing the unemployment benefits in other states without any 
of the revenue going to unemployed Texans. This bill is unfair and for 
that reason I could not support it.

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