[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19858-19860]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           RAISING A QUESTION OF THE PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a), 
paragraph 1 of rule IX, I rise to give notice of my intention to offer 
a resolution to raise a question of the privileges of the House.
  The form of the resolution is as follows:
       Whereas although our Nation's economy is gradually 
     improving after one of the worst economic crises in our 
     Nation's history, the economic crisis remains a daily reality 
     for the 13.3 million unemployed workers and for the millions 
     of Americans experiencing record levels of food insecurity, 
     poverty, and foreclosure;
       Whereas the national unemployment rate is 8.6 percent, with 
     over 42.8 percent of all unemployed workers, more than 5.7 
     million people, having been out of work for more than 6 
     months;
       Whereas while there were 1.8 unemployed Americans for every 
     job opening in December 2007, when the Great Recession began, 
     data recently released by the Department of Labor show that, 
     as of October 2011, there were over 4.3 unemployed Americans 
     for every job opening;
       Whereas data recently released by the Department of Labor 
     show that, as of October 2011, there were 3.3 million job 
     openings, which is well below the 4.8 million job openings in 
     March 2007, when job openings were at their highest point 
     during the most recent business cycle;
       Whereas recent data demonstrate that most unemployed 
     Americans no longer receive unemployment insurance benefits, 
     reflecting the crisis that exists for the millions of 
     Americans who have exhausted their benefits and still cannot 
     find work, including the 100,000 Illinoisans estimated to 
     have exhausted their benefits in 2010 and the additional 
     100,000 Illinoisans who, it is estimated, would exhaust their 
     benefits in 2012 if current law were extended;
       Whereas unemployment benefits are a critical lifeline for 
     our citizens and our economy, including by keeping 3.2 
     million Americans (including nearly 1 million children) from 
     falling into poverty in 2010 alone; generating $2 in economic 
     stimulus for every $1 the Federal Government spent during 
     this recession; and saving or creating 1.1 million jobs as of 
     the fourth quarter of 2009 alone;
       Whereas all Members of the House of Representatives have a 
     responsibility to protect Americans and our country from 
     physical and economic harm, especially during times of 
     national crisis;
       Whereas the recently-introduced Republican proposal to 
     address the unemployment crisis facing our Nation fails to 
     protect Americans by drastically cutting 40 weeks of 
     unemployment assistance and imposing new restrictions that 
     would make it more difficult and costly for employees to 
     receive the benefits for which they have paid;
       Whereas the Republican proposal fails to protect Americans 
     by cutting the number of Federally-funded weeks of 
     unemployment benefits from 73 to 33 in high unemployment 
     States, abandoning over 1 million Americans in 2012 by 
     slashing their benefits;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would likely result in the 
     following States, with elevated unemployment rates, losing 40 
     weeks of unemployment benefits in 2012: Alabama, California, 
     Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, 
     Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, 
     Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode 
     Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would cause all other 
     States to lose between 14 and 34 weeks of Federal 
     unemployment benefits;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would erode the 
     unemployment safety net by undermining the requirement that 
     unemployment dollars fund unemployment benefits to help 
     individual workers cover basic necessities, such as food and 
     housing;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would further erode the 
     unemployment safety net by undermining the eligibility 
     standard that unemployment benefits be determined solely on 
     the basis of a claimant's unemployment;
       Whereas the Republican proposal demands untested, punitive 
     measures that hurt unemployed workers, including deducting 
     money from one's unemployment check to pay for required 
     reemployment assessments and delayed or prohibited benefits 
     depending on educational attainment;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would disproportionately 
     harm groups of Americans who are hardest hit by unemployment 
     and long-term unemployment, including older Americans, low-
     income Americans, Americans from racial and ethnic minority 
     groups, and Americans without a high school diploma;
       Whereas now that emergency assistance is about to expire, 
     the Republican proposal reflects comfort with $180 billion in 
     tax breaks for the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans for 
     2012, but not the $50 billion needed to help millions of the 
     neediest Americans who still cannot find a job;
       Whereas the Economic Policy Institute estimates that the 
     Republican proposal would result in as much as $22 billion in 
     lost economic growth, and the Center for American Progress 
     estimates that the Republican proposal would lead to a loss 
     of approximately 275,000 jobs in 2012;
       Whereas it will tarnish the dignity and integrity of the 
     House proceedings if the House considers a bill that cuts 
     critical emergency assistance to millions of Americans, 
     hinders economic recovery, and disproportionately harms older 
     Americans, Americans from racial and ethnic minority groups, 
     low-income Americans, and Americans without a high school 
     degree;
       Whereas it will tarnish the dignity and integrity of the 
     House proceedings if the Republican Leadership holds hostage 
     the 2.5 million Americans who, the Department of Labor 
     estimates, will lose their benefits by March 2012 if Congress 
     fails to act, in order to push a radical agenda the American 
     people have already rejected; and
       Whereas failure to allow consideration of amendments to 
     protect vulnerable Americans during consideration of a bill 
     that substantially and permanently changes Federal 
     unemployment benefits tarnishes the integrity of the 
     legislative process: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes the immediate need to extend current 
     emergency unemployment benefits to promote our Nation's 
     economic recovery by stimulating purchases, creating jobs, 
     and preventing the loss of jobs;
       (2) recognizes the immediate need to extend current 
     emergency unemployment benefits to help the approximately 6 
     million unemployed Americans who will lose benefits if 
     current emergency unemployment benefits are not extended 
     through 2012;
       (3) disapproves of drastically limiting Federal 
     unemployment benefits until economic growth is robust and the 
     Nation is in a period of full employment; and
       (4) calls on the Leadership of the House to bring to a vote 
     a clean extension of all current emergency unemployment 
     benefits for a

[[Page 19859]]

     full year to protect the millions of Americans who will lose 
     benefits if the current statute sunsets at the end of 
     December 2011 or if H.R. 3630, as posted by the Committee on 
     Rules on December 9, 2011, is enacted.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would now entertain the 
resolution.
  Does the gentleman from Illinois wish to offer it at this point?
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Yes, I do.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:
       Whereas although our Nation's economy is gradually 
     improving after one of the worst economic crises in our 
     Nation's history, the economic crisis remains a daily reality 
     for the 13.3 million unemployed workers and for the millions 
     of Americans experiencing record levels of food insecurity, 
     poverty, and foreclosure;
       Whereas the national unemployment rate is 8.6 percent, with 
     over 42.8 percent of all unemployed workers, more than 5.7 
     million people, having been out of work for more than 6 
     months;
       Whereas while there were 1.8 unemployed Americans for every 
     job opening in December 2007, when the Great Recession began, 
     data recently released by the Department of Labor show that, 
     as of October 2011, there were over 4.3 unemployed Americans 
     for every job opening;
       Whereas data recently released by the Department of Labor 
     show that, as of October 2011, there were 3.3 million job 
     openings, which is well below the 4.8 million job openings in 
     March 2007, when job openings were at their highest point 
     during the most recent business cycle;
       Whereas recent data demonstrate that most unemployed 
     Americans no longer receive unemployment insurance benefits, 
     reflecting the crisis that exists for the millions of 
     Americans who have exhausted their benefits and still cannot 
     find work, including the 100,000 Illinoisans estimated to 
     have exhausted their benefits in 2010 and the additional 
     100,000 Illinoisans who, it is estimated, would exhaust their 
     benefits in 2012 if current law were extended;
       Whereas unemployment benefits are a critical lifeline for 
     our citizens and our economy, including by keeping 3.2 
     million Americans (including nearly 1 million children) from 
     falling into poverty in 2010 alone; generating $2 in economic 
     stimulus for every $1 the Federal Government spent during 
     this recession; and saving or creating 1.1 million jobs as of 
     the fourth quarter of 2009 alone;
       Whereas all Members of the House of Representatives have a 
     responsibility to protect Americans and our country from 
     physical and economic harm, especially during times of 
     national crisis;
       Whereas the recently-introduced Republican proposal to 
     address the unemployment crisis facing our Nation fails to 
     protect Americans by drastically cutting 40 weeks of 
     unemployment assistance and imposing new restrictions that 
     would make it more difficult and costly for employees to 
     receive the benefits for which they have paid;
       Whereas the Republican proposal fails to protect Americans 
     by cutting the number of Federally-funded weeks of 
     unemployment benefits from 73 to 33 in high unemployment 
     States, abandoning over 1 million Americans in 2012 by 
     slashing their benefits;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would likely result in the 
     following States, with elevated unemployment rates, losing 40 
     weeks of unemployment benefits in 2012: Alabama, California, 
     Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, 
     Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, 
     Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode 
     Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would cause all other 
     States to lose between 14 and 34 weeks of Federal 
     unemployment benefits;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would erode the 
     unemployment safety net by undermining the requirement that 
     unemployment dollars fund unemployment benefits to help 
     individual workers cover basic necessities, such as food and 
     housing;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would further erode the 
     unemployment safety net by undermining the eligibility 
     standard that unemployment benefits be determined solely on 
     the basis of a claimant's unemployment;
       Whereas the Republican proposal demands untested, punitive 
     measures that hurt unemployed workers, including deducting 
     money from one's unemployment check to pay for required 
     reemployment assessments and delayed or prohibited benefits 
     depending on educational attainment;
       Whereas the Republican proposal would disproportionately 
     harm groups of Americans who are hardest hit by unemployment 
     and long-term unemployment, including older Americans, low-
     income Americans, Americans from racial and ethnic minority 
     groups, and Americans without a high school diploma;
       Whereas now that emergency assistance is about to expire, 
     the Republican proposal reflects comfort with $180 billion in 
     tax breaks for the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans for 
     2012, but not the $50 billion needed to help millions of the 
     neediest Americans who still cannot find a job;
       Whereas the Economic Policy Institute estimates that the 
     Republican proposal would result in as much as $22 billion in 
     lost economic growth, and the Center for American Progress 
     estimates that the Republican proposal would lead to a loss 
     of approximately 275,000 jobs in 2012;
       Whereas it will tarnish the dignity and integrity of the 
     House proceedings if the House considers a bill that cuts 
     critical emergency assistance to millions of Americans, 
     hinders economic recovery, and disproportionately harms older 
     Americans, Americans from racial and ethnic minority groups, 
     low-income Americans, and Americans without a high school 
     degree;
       Whereas it will tarnish the dignity and integrity of the 
     House proceedings if the Republican Leadership holds hostage 
     the 2.5 million Americans who, the Department of Labor 
     estimates, will lose their benefits by March 2012 if Congress 
     fails to act, in order to push a radical agenda the American 
     people have already rejected; and
       Whereas failure to allow consideration of amendments to 
     protect vulnerable Americans during consideration of a bill 
     that substantially and permanently changes Federal 
     unemployment benefits tarnishes the integrity of the 
     legislative process: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes the immediate need to extend current 
     emergency unemployment benefits to promote our Nation's 
     economic recovery by stimulating purchases, creating jobs, 
     and preventing the loss of jobs;
       (2) recognizes the immediate need to extend current 
     emergency unemployment benefits to help the approximately 6 
     million unemployed Americans who will lose benefits if 
     current emergency unemployment benefits are not extended 
     through 2012;
       (3) disapproves of drastically limiting Federal 
     unemployment benefits until economic growth is robust and the 
     Nation is in a period of full employment; and
       (4) calls on the Leadership of the House to bring to a vote 
     a clean extension of all current emergency unemployment 
     benefits for a full year to protect the millions of Americans 
     who will lose benefits if the current statute sunsets at the 
     end of December 2011 or if H.R. 3630, as posted by the 
     Committee on Rules on December 9, 2011, is enacted.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Does the gentleman from Illinois wish to 
present argument on why the resolution is privileged under rule IX to 
take precedence over other questions?
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. I do.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman will present those arguments.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, in order to qualify as a question 
of the privileges of the House under rule IX, the resolution must 
address ``the rights of the House collectively, its safety, dignity, 
and the integrity of its proceedings.''
  The resolution I offer seeks to express the position of the House 
that the Republican proposal to address the unemployment crisis facing 
our Nation and the procedures used to bring it to the floor tarnish the 
dignity and integrity of the House proceedings and the integrity of the 
legislative process.
  All Members of the House of Representatives have a responsibility to 
protect Americans and our country from physical and economic harm, 
especially during times of national crisis. Yet, contrary to this 
mandate, the Republican proposal to address the unemployment crisis 
threatens to damage our national economy as well as the well-being of 
millions of Americans.
  By drastically cutting benefits--especially for employees and States 
hardest hit by unemployment--by 40 weeks and imposing punitive 
restrictions on access to benefits, the Republican proposal will almost 
certainly harm millions of Americans and our Nation's economic well-
being.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would remind the gentleman from 
Illinois that argument must be confined as to whether or not the matter 
is privileged under rule IX, and may not address the substance of the 
resolution.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
  Given the unemployment crisis that does in fact exist in our country, 
and given the great needs that exist for people to feel a sense of 
comfort and security, given the fact that older Americans, low-income 
Americans, Americans from racial and ethnic minority groups, and 
Americans with----
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would again ask the gentleman to 
address whether or not this resolution is privileged under rule IX.

[[Page 19860]]


  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my position and my belief 
that the Republican proposal tarnishes the legislative process by 
making substantial permanent changes to Federal unemployment benefits, 
and that, when passed--if passed--that the country will have 
experienced difficulties that could have been avoided.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair would ask the gentleman if he has 
any additional observations relative to the question of privilege, and 
not on the substance of the resolution.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, let me thank you for your 
comments. Actually, I am at the end of my comments, and I would yield 
back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair thanks the gentleman for his 
creativity.
  Does any other Member wish to be heard on the question of privilege?
  The Chair is prepared to rule.
  As the Chair ruled in similar circumstances on October 2 and October 
3, 2002, a resolution expressing the sentiment that Congress should act 
on a specified legislative measure does not constitute a question of 
privileges of the House under rule IX.
  The mere invocation of legislative powers provided in the 
Constitution coupled with identification of a desired policy end does 
not meet the requirements of rule IX and is really a matter properly 
initiated through introduction in the hopper under clause 7 of rule 
XII.
  Accordingly, the resolution offered by the gentleman from Illinois 
does not constitute a question of the privileges of the House under 
rule IX.

                          ____________________