Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, it has been over a month since Congress allowed the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program to expire. That means that more than 1.5 million out-of-work Americans--including more than 6,000 Rhode Islanders--have by now lost a critical lifeline. While Republicans obstruct here in Washington, families in Providence and Bristol and Westerly are scrambling to pay the mortgage or keep the heat on in the dead of winter. Over the coming months, thousands more Rhode Islanders will not be eligible to receive extended weeks of unemployment benefits as their regular unemployment benefits expire.

Congress passed--and President Bush signed--the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program in response to the epidemic of joblessness brought on by the great recession, just as we have done during previous economic crises. The program has been extended several times as our Nation continues to struggle under stubbornly high rates of unemployment. Yet Senate Republicans would not agree to extend this lifeline to families before the holidays, and just this week, they voted to prevent us from restoring the emergency assistance.

Even with the worst of the recession behind us, too many Rhode Islanders are still unable to find work. The unemployment rate in my State--9.1 percent in December--remains well above the national average. The sheer depth and duration of this jobs crisis have plunged unprecedented numbers of Americans into long-term unemployment. The share of workers unemployed longer than 6 months is still greater than the previous record set in the early 1980s. Now is not the time to pull the plug on our fellow Americans.

Nationwide, there are three unemployed workers for every available job opening. For some, the jobs just aren't there, and a strategy to make people desperate creates nothing but cruelty.

My Republican colleagues who think this assistance doesn't make a real difference should talk to the 74 year-old woman from Westerly, RI, who contacted my office. She was laid off in July after 11 years with the same company and is still unable to find work. She has moved in with a neighbor to cut costs. She says emergency unemployment assistance helped her keep her head above water.

Those who think extended unemployment discourages people from seeking work should talk to the forty-five-year-old husband and father from West Warwick, who finds himself unemployed for the first time in his life. Since losing his job 5 months ago, he has applied to nearly 100 jobs with no success. With only his wife's wages coming in the door, his emergency unemployment helped this family to barely make ends meet.

Unemployment benefits spent on rent, groceries, and other basics contribute directly to economic activity. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the country could lose 200,000 jobs if unemployment benefits aren't extended.

My senior Senator Jack Reed has led the fight to maintain this basic support for Americans still struggling to get back to work. He has worked tirelessly across the aisle to find a thoughtful compromise. Rhode Islanders are grateful for his leadership and he has my full support in the effort to restore emergency unemployment assistance to American workers. The Senate must not turn its back on those struggling the longest to find work.

I yield the floor.

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