    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [March 4, 1993]
    [Page 239]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 239]]

    Statement on Signing the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Amendments
    of 1993
    March 4, 1993

        Today I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 920, the ``Emergency
    Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1993.'' This legislation will
    provide critical assistance to the unemployed and their families by
    extending the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program--which
    is scheduled to expire March 6--through October 2, 1993. In addition,
    the legislation includes an innovative worker profiling program to
    encourage States to use the Unemployment Insurance system to link
    permanently displaced workers to reemployment services early in their
    period of unemployment and facilitate their transition to new jobs.
        With the EUC program due to expire this Saturday, I commend the
    Congress for its swift action to ensure that there will be continued
    help for millions of jobless Americans who want to work to support their
    families but cannot find jobs. I believe that, as a Nation, we have a
    moral obligation, as well as an economic interest, to help these
    families stay afloat while they attempt to find jobs.
        While there have been recent signs of improvement in the economy,
    this improvement has regrettably not extended to the area of employment.
    The unemployment rate has been over 7 percent for 14 consecutive months
    and the current rate is higher than the rate that existed when the EUC
    program was originally enacted. Moreover, the current labor market is,
    in many respects, weaker than it was at what was considered the worst
    point of the recession. For example, the rates at which the unemployed
    are now exhausting their regular State benefits and the average length
    of time the unemployed are now receiving benefits are significantly
    higher than they were at the bottom of the recession.
        H.R. 920 combines compassion with a healthy dose of common sense. It
    not only provides extended income support to help the unemployed with
    grocery bills, mortgages, car and tuition payments, and other expenses,
    but also offers a means to help target reemployment services to the
    structurally unemployed so they can get back to work.
        Enactment of this bill is an important first step. While there are
    funds available to pay EUC benefits for a few more weeks, the funds for
    the balance of the extension are included as part of my economic
    stimulus package. The EUC extension will help sustain the unemployed
    until we are successful in creating more jobs. It is therefore also
    imperative that we now work together to enact quickly the stimulus
    package, as well as the long-term public investment and deficit
    reduction proposals I have presented. These actions will ensure strong,
    sustained economic growth and significantly increase the job
    opportunities available to the American people.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,
    March 4, 1993.

    Note: H.R. 920, approved March 4, was assigned Public Law No. 103-6.