Extending Unemployment Insurance

Floor Speech

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Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman.

First, I would like to extend my appreciation to my colleague, my good friend, and the ranking member, Mr. Levin, from the great State of Michigan, for hosting this critically important Special Order hour on extending unemployment insurance benefits for over 2.2 million people who have been cut off since the end of last year. Thank you for your leadership and tenacity in making sure that this issue remains a priority here in this House. I commend you, sir, for your leadership.

The timing of this Special Order hour in this session is not coincidental. The Senate is well on their way towards passing a bipartisan bill to restore this critical financial lifeline that the people in this country depend on while they search for work.

I want to commend my Majority Leader, Senator Harry Reid, from the great State of Nevada, and the other great U.S. Senator from Nevada, Dean Heller, a Republican, who have worked in a bipartisan manner with Senator Jack Reed to get to the point they are in the Senate.

I want to go further in recognizing Senator Dean Heller in calling Speaker Boehner just recently to ask him what it would take to bring up a clean vote on extending unemployment insurance benefits, because this is not a partisan issue--at least it shouldn't be. Helping 2 million Americans who rely on unemployment insurance as a bridge while they search for work is basic, fundamental, and should be supported by Members on both sides of the aisle, extending the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program through May and restoring the financial bridge to nearly 2.8 million Americans. These are our neighbors. They are people that we know.

Now, the Democratic Caucus in the House comes to the floor today with a unified voice to respectfully ask the Speaker of this House for a vote. We have heard the calls from our constituents, and they cannot wait another day for the Republican leadership to continue to play political games.

My colleague, Representative Sánchez, just said it has been 17 weeks since these unemployment insurance benefits have expired. For each week, that is $300, on average, that family members who use this to pay the rent, to keep the utilities on, to put some gas in the car so that they can search for work have been lost.

So we come here today to talk about the lives that have been affected by this Congress' inaction at a time when the American people expect us to act. We are here to put the face to the numbers, because there are real people behind the 2.8 million Americans who are suffering, to give voice to those who are being ignored while they struggle to stay in their homes and to put food on their table for themselves and their family.

Now, I am from Nevada. In our State, we recently had our numbers released today, and fortunately the numbers are getting better. Now we are the third worst in unemployment. So that is good news, but it is still not good enough. Nevada, along with other States like Rhode Island, continue to face higher unemployment in the Nation, not because the people in our States don't want to work, but because the environment in our States hasn't recovered fast enough from the recession.

Now, in Nevada, we like boasting more about being the entertainment capital of the world and the fact that we have some of the most magnificent natural resources anywhere, but, unfortunately, the prolonged recession has hit our State and the people of Nevada to our core.

As I said, it is because, in large part, our economy was a growth economy. For nearly 20 years, year over year, we had double-digit growth, and people were moving to the great State of Nevada to help us build and to grow.

But during the recession that changed, and so now over 100,000 Nevadans are unemployed and have been primarily from the construction, engineering, and architecture sectors of our economy. These aren't people who don't want to work. There is an environment that is not allowing them to go to work.

Now, if we pass the Senate bill, 31,500 Nevadans would see their unemployment benefits extended. It is not a lot of money. As I said, it is not enough to live off of, but for these families and the stories that they have told us, it can make all the difference between being on the brink and literally falling off.

Now, I want to share a couple of stories of constituents whom I have met over the last few weeks as we have tried to bring attention to this issue.

Before coming to Congress, I ran an employment and training agency that helped thousands of people get training to go to work in Las Vegas. I know what it takes to put people back to work. So I went and visited one of our workforce centers and met with a group of unemployed workers to hear directly what they are facing and what it has meant to lose their unemployment insurance. They told us that they didn't know where else to turn. And they surely, if Speaker Boehner could hear from them, they want him to know that they want to do right by our fellow citizens and return to work.

Now, among the Nevadans who have been cut off from unemployment insurance is Monty. He was laid off from his job on December 4, 2013, and he lost his benefits on December 28, 2013. When he called my office in February, his life had gone from bad to worse. Monty told my staff:

I've had to basically pawn everything of value that I own to try and stay in my apartment. That came to an end last week when I couldn't afford to stay there anymore and I was evicted. Right now, I am sleeping on rocks outside of a brick wall at night with a blanket to keep me warm, and during the daytime I go out and look for work.

Prior to losing unemployment benefits, I was able to pay my rent on a weekly basis, have bus fare to get around and look for jobs, and provide a little bit of food for myself and keep looking.

Monty hasn't given up because he is determined to get back on his feet. He has never been in this situation before and, Mr. Speaker, he is not a lazy person. When he was employed, he hadn't missed a day of work in 25 years. Now he just can't understand why Congress has turned its back on him. Unemployment benefits were providing him the opportunity to keep looking for work and to stay in his home so that he could have a bed to sleep in and a hot shower before he goes on work interviews.

Now, there was recently some good news for Monty. He recently signed up for Medicaid because of the Affordable Care Act. It is a small victory for him, but his story of losing his home is the same as thousands of people around this Nation.

That is why I am proud to be a lead sponsor of the Stop Foreclosures Due to the Congressional Dysfunction Act introduced by Congressman Matt Cartwright from Pennsylvania. The legislation would impose a 6-month moratorium on foreclosures for individuals who have lost their unemployment insurance compensation due to the recent congressional inaction.

Until we do the right thing, Mr. Speaker, by extending unemployment insurance, we must do everything that we can to keep families with a roof over their heads. Congressman Cartwright and I have also sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt requesting that he take action and use his regulatory authority to establish the 6-month moratorium if Congress fails to act to pass this important legislation.

Another constituent who I talked with recently is Elizabeth. Like my colleague Representative Sánchez said, many of these workers, or unemployed people who want to work, happen to be older Americans who feel that age has something to do with why they are not able to get back into the workforce. She lost her job with the Nevada Division of Insurance last year after suffering a stroke and two severe concussions. She has been searching every single day for work. She, like Monty, was uninsured until receiving coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Her unemployment benefits helped pay her premium and for the expense of medications that help prevent her seizures.

After losing her benefits, she had to cut down on taking her medication, now taking it every other day instead of daily, and now risks suffering another accident. Given her new condition, she made it her goal to become a caretaker and companion for senior citizens, which requires she attend classes and trainings. The unemployment benefits that she was receiving helped pay to put gas in her car to attend those classes. When she lost her benefits, she had to stop taking the classes, which was devastating, because this was part of her goal and the transition that she was trying to make to return to work.

But like many people, she had tough choices to make. She told us it wasn't a lot of money when she had a job, but now her family barely has enough to stay in their home and to pay their bills. Elizabeth wants to work. She told us: Do you think it is fun sitting around every day feeling like you are worthless, like you are nothing? She told us that most of all she wants to be able to get back to work to help provide for her neighbors, for those senior citizens that need that care and attention, for those who are worse off than she is.

One of the hardest parts of being in financial straits, for her, is not being able to give to charity. That is true citizenship, Mr. Speaker, and House Republicans could learn a lot from Elizabeth.

These are the personal stories of those who have been hurt by Congress' failure to act. If Republicans don't want to extend unemployment insurance because it is the right thing to do for our fellow Americans, then maybe--then maybe--you will do it because it is the right thing to do for the economy.

Overall, failing to renew the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program will cost the economy 200,000 jobs this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, including 3,000 jobs in my home State of Nevada. Failing to extend unemployment insurance has drained, already, nearly $5 billion from our State economies, including $70 million from Nevada's economy, at a time when economic growth is needed the most.

For every $1 that is spent on unemployment insurance, it grows the economy by $1.52. So, whichever way you look at it, there is no excuse for inaction.

When the Senate acts next week, the country's attention will turn to the House, and I am here with my colleagues today to urge the Speaker to listen to the Americans in this country who are desperately depending on us to act. At the end of next week, we will go into a work period for 2 weeks. During those 2 weeks, Americans will suffer if we don't act.

Mr. Speaker, we must be ready to act, and I urge my colleagues to do the right thing by extending unemployment insurance for the millions of Americans who need it now.

Again, I would like to thank the gentleman from Michigan and my other colleagues who have joined for this Special Order.

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