[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 25738-25739]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   EXTENSION OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, currently the Nation's unemployment rate is 
higher than it has been since 1983. In my home State of Michigan, the 
unemployment rate is 15.3 percent, 5.5 percent higher than the Nation's 
unemployment rate of 9.8 percent. Translated into real people, this 
means over 15 million Americans are unemployed, more than 740,000 of 
whom are living in Michigan. As of October 16, more than 44,000 
Michiganians have exhausted their much needed unemployment benefits, 
and by the end of this year, the number will rise to almost 100,000 
people. Since the beginning of this year, Michigan has been losing on 
average 27,000 jobs per month. Our people need help.
  My constituents make a simple request: Please act so our benefits do 
not run out. These people are eager, even desperate for work. Until the 
economic recovery that appears to be starting begins creating new jobs, 
these Americans need our help. They need us to listen. They need us to 
help ensure they can still feed and clothe their families and remain in 
their homes.
  Economists tell us that direct payments such as unemployment 
insurance are also the best, most efficient way to boost economic 
activity in a downturn. In fact, economists estimate that for every $1 
we provide Americans in extended unemployment benefits, we generate 
$1.64 in new economic activity.
  Michigan's families are waiting. America's workers are waiting. We 
must pass this legislation extending unemployment benefits. Every day 
that passes without doing so deepens the pain and suffering of our 
people.
  Today's vote on cloture on the unemployment benefits extension is a 
critical vote for millions of Americans. I hope we rise to the 
occasion. The people of Michigan, the people who so desperately need 
work and cannot find it are waiting eagerly and hopefully.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, last week I spoke on the floor about the 
urgent need to pass an extension of unemployment insurance that would 
help 18,000 people from the State of Washington and millions of 
Americans across the country. I came here and told the story of three 
Washington State families who have lost their jobs in the most 
difficult time since the Great Depression and who desperately need the 
support that an extension would give them to get back on their feet. 
Unfortunately, despite the hard work of many of my colleagues on the 
floor, this small measure of financial stability has been delayed to 
families across the country who need it the most, families who right 
now, as we debate about whether we will get to the bill, are having a 
much more agonizing debate at home about how to make next month's rent 
or even next week's grocery budget if their unemployment runs out.
  For these families, this bill will provide real help. It provides 
every single unemployed worker who has exhausted his or her benefits, 
regardless of the State they live in, an additional 14 weeks of 
support. It extends unemployment to laid off workers in States hardest 
hit by job losses, including my home State of Washington, by 6 weeks. 
It makes critical changes to help more families, like making sure an 
additional $25 per week in benefits that Congress included in the 
recovery act doesn't count against someone who is seeking food stamps.
  Washington State workers and Americans across the country have been 
hurt through no fault of their own. They are out there every day 
looking for work. While we are seeing some progress on the economic 
front, for many of them the job market is still discouraging. 
Unemployment is now at 9.8 percent. That is a 26-year high. Since this 
recession began back in December of 2007, over 7.4 million people have 
lost their jobs, and the 15 million Americans who are trying to find 
jobs are searching for an average of 6.5 months before something comes 
through for them.
  While those statistics clearly point out the need for this 
legislation, the stories behind those statistics are even more of a 
call to action. Last week, I told of the stories that have been pouring 
into my office from people who are unemployed in my home State of 
Washington. These are workers who are not asking for a handout; they 
are just asking for a small measure of support as they work very hard 
to try to

[[Page 25739]]

get back on their feet. Today, I wish to share a couple more stories 
from the hundreds that have come into my office over the past few days 
urging me to do everything I can to get this bill passed.
  I heard from a woman named Loretta Messick. She lives in Auburn, WA. 
She sent me a message just yesterday. She told me she has been working 
for more than 25 years, but she was recently laid off for the first 
time ever in her career. She said she is desperately looking for work, 
but she is not sure she is going to be able to find any before her 
benefits run out. She is working with her bank, she told me, to try and 
adjust her mortgage payments, but she told me that if unemployment runs 
out, she fears her family is very much in danger of losing their home.
  Loretta is not alone. I also have a story from a woman named Patricia 
Obrist. She lives in Renton, WA. Patricia and her husband both had jobs 
in the construction industry--good jobs, she told me--but they were 
laid off when business slowed down for the companies they worked for. 
She told me she has only 8 weeks of unemployment benefits left and 
then, she said, she is going to have to start dropping expenses such as 
health care, the car payment, their mortgage. She asked me for just a 
little more time for her to find a job and to give her a chance to 
avoid losing everything she has worked so hard for.
  For Loretta, for Patricia, for their families, and millions more like 
them, these questions haunt them every day: What will we do if support 
runs out? Where will we go when our savings are exhausted, when the 
credit card payments can no longer be met? What do we do when the bank 
will not wait any longer for a mortgage payment? Whom do we turn to?
  In a time of national crisis, it is our job to make sure we are 
answering those questions. We can, by helping to provide a bridge to 
financial stability. We cannot sit on the sidelines. Doing so would 
only compound the problems we already face. More families will be 
pushed into bankruptcy, more homes will be foreclosed upon, more people 
will lose their health care, and less progress will then be made on the 
road to financial recovery for all of us. We can't sit by as working 
families are pushed to the brink by a financial crisis they did not 
create but they are paying for.
  I hope all our colleagues listen to the voices of their constituents 
and join us in passing an unemployment extension that makes sure the 
struggles of America's laid-off workers are not ignored. This bill 
could not come at a more crucial time.
  I wish to point out that these benefits would mean very little if we 
don't quickly get them into the hands of the people who need it most. 
The people of our State workforce agencies, people such as the 
Employment Security Department in my home State, are critical to making 
that happen. Despite the increasing demand, they have been working 
tirelessly to serve unemployed claimants, and I know this time will not 
be any different. So I wish to take a second to applaud them for their 
efforts to make sure these funds are distributed as quickly as possible 
to eligible claimants.
  I appreciate all those who have been working hard to bring the 
unemployment extension bill to the floor of the Senate. I urge us to 
act now. We should not block this with any other efforts, even though 
many of them are important. Our families are struggling. We cannot 
afford to see anybody else lose their health care or their home or 
their car or their financial stability. Let's pass this unemployment 
extension and then move on to continuing the other important work that 
comes before the Senate.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Udall of Colorado). The clerk will call 
the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when I am 
finished speaking the Senator from Illinois be recognized.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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