Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2008

Floor Speech

UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION EXTENSION ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - October 03, 2008)

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, we all know our economy is rapidly deteriorating and we have a responsibility to act. Today we passed an economic stabilization bill that we worked to benefit everyone, allowing individuals and businesses across the country critical access to the credit that they need. The package also included tax provisions to bring further relief to the middle class, protecting hardworking Americans from the encroaching alternative minimum tax, expand the child tax credit, and create jobs through renewable energy and research and development tax credits. Yet we must do more to help those in need.

So far this year, 760,000 jobs have disappeared. The Labor Department reported today that the economy shed 159,000 jobs in September, the ninth straight month of job losses and the most in more than 5 years. The unemployment rate is now at 6.1 percent, the highest level in 5 years. This August, Connecticut unemployment reached 6.5 percent, the highest since 1993, and wages remained stagnant.

The legislation we consider today will provide 7 additional weeks of extended benefits for workers in every State, extend eligibility to 20 weeks, and provides another 13 weeks for workers in States with the unemployment rate of 6 percent or higher. With 800,000 workers currently set to exhaust their extended benefits in October, this could not be more urgent.

In the long run, we need to provide real stimulus to help the middle class, create jobs by investing in infrastructure and renewable energy and provide the middle class with much-needed tax relief. Extending unemployment insurance is one of the best options to stimulate the economy. It is good economics, and it is basic human decency.

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