Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for speaking out for this important program. I know there are many jobs in his State which are at stake with this decision by the Senate. There are some 26,000 jobs in Illinois that hinge on a decision made by the Senate as to whether we extend this program. What we are discussing this afternoon gets down to the heart of the question: Will we do everything in our power to help Americans find work, particularly those who have struggled so hard in the past? Will we give them a chance to continue working in many instances or to find work? It is an important choice.

Here we have a stark example of this choice in the fate of a program called the TANF Emergency Contingency Fund. In my State, we call this program Put Illinois to Work. It helps States subsidize the cost of hiring workers in mostly private sector jobs.

This small program has had a huge impact in Illinois. Nearly 250,000 jobs have been created in 37 States. It is a program that everyone of both political parties should support. Rather than paying people to do nothing, this program helps private companies hire the employees they need but can't quite afford. Yet Republicans, at least to this point, are saying we should not extend this program past this Thursday. The end of this program in my State means the loss of thousands of jobs. I think the only reason there is opposition to this is the fact that it was originally conceived and offered to the Senate in the President's Recovery Act.

Though many on the other side of the aisle have taken a party-line position that they will oppose that act no matter what it did is unfortunate, particularly for people who are just trying to find a way to survive in a very tough economy. Many of them earn $10 an hour. These are not jobs on which one could get rich. They can survive on these jobs. We are trying to make sure these people have an opportunity to survive. This is a stimulus that works. Who would argue with the concept or premise that putting people to work is a lot better than paying them to do nothing?

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts has a simple bill that would extend the jobs program by 3 months, but it is fully paid for by reducing the TANF program's future budget. The argument that it adds to the deficit does not work. It doesn't add to the deficit. It is paid for by future budgetary commitments. I am afraid that still we will find an objection from the other side of the aisle. They have objected to continuing this program on the continuing resolution which more or less keeps government in business while we are in recess.

Mr. President, 26,000 jobs are at stake in Illinois, and losing that many jobs would hurt my State. We already have an unemployment rate of over 10 percent. Governor Pat Quinn is trying to figure out how to save some of these jobs, but it is difficult with the budgetary problems we face in the State capital. It is not just Illinois that would suffer; 110,000 jobs would be lost in States represented by Republican Senators: 40,000 in Texas, which is represented by two Republican Senators; 20,000 in Georgia, represented by two Republican Senators; 10,000 in Kentucky, 10,000 people who will lose work this week in Kentucky represented by the minority leader. It is unfortunate that we have allowed some of these ideological positions to get in the way. It makes no difference that over 110,000 constituents represented by those on the other side of the aisle will be impacted by this objection.

I am afraid at this point some of our partisan differences are going to cost a lot of innocent people a chance to bring home a paycheck. I don't think that is what the American people want in Washington. I think what they are looking for us to do is to extend this program and save a quarter million Americans from losing their jobs.

I don't know if Senator Kerry is coming to the Senate floor, but I see some Members on the Republican side of the aisle. I will make the unanimous consent request at this point.

I ask unanimous consent that the Finance Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 3849, the Job Preservation for Parents in Poverty Act; that the Senate then proceed to its consideration; that the bill be read three times, passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; and that any statements relating to the measure be printed in the Record.

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