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“THE EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Senate section on pages S9781-S9782 on Oct. 2, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION ACT
Mr. LEVIN. Madam President, the decline of our economy in the last year and a half is truly staggering. It is absolutely critical that we in Congress, before we leave, do everything we possibly can to help Americans who have been hurt by this downturn--in particular, the people who are unemployed and having trouble getting back into the workforce. That is why it is essential that before we leave we extend unemployment benefits and adopt the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002, which has been introduced by Senator Wellstone, Senator Clinton, myself, and others.
Over 8 million Americans are unemployed. Since January of 2001, the national unemployment rate has risen from 4.2 percent to 5.7 percent. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, between May and July of this year, approximately 900,000 workers exhausted all of the additional weeks of Federal unemployment benefits that they received as a result of the economic stimulus legislation that passed the Congress last March. By the end of this year, that number will swell to 2.2 million workers having exhausted their unemployment benefits.
We have lost more than 2 million private sector jobs since January of 2001. For the first time in 50 years, the number of private sector jobs has actually declined in this country. Now, the rate of increase in those jobs has gone up and down over the last 50 years but never in the last 50 years has there been an actual decline in the number of private sector jobs until this last year.
The legislation introduced last week would do something about these problems by providing all States with an additional 13 weeks of temporary extended unemployment benefits. It would also authorize States with the highest levels of unemployment to get funds for an additional 7 weeks of benefits on top of the 13.
This is especially important to my home State of Michigan. Michigan has one of the higher unemployment rates nationwide, currently 6.2 percent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Johnson). The time controlled by the majority has expired.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I notice a number of our colleagues are in the Chamber, and my time has expired. I ask unanimous consent that I be given an additional 3 minutes to complete my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. INHOFE. Reserving the right to object, I am sorry, I did not hear the Senator's question.
Mr. LEVIN. I ask unanimous consent that I be given an additional 3 minutes to complete my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. LEVIN. I thank my friend from Oklahoma.
Mr. President, the legislation we introduced last week would do something about these problems by giving all States an additional 13 weeks of temporary extended unemployment benefits and would authorize States with the highest levels of unemployment to get funds for an additional 7 weeks of benefits above the 13 weeks.
As I indicated, my home State has one of the highest unemployment rates in the Nation, currently 6.2 percent. That is the seventh highest in the Nation, and it is almost a full percentage point higher than it was just a year and a half ago. More than 60,000 workers in Michigan currently receive Federal unemployment benefits, with an additional 50,000 Michigan workers having already exhausted their benefits.
Michigan's median household income fell by 4.1 percent last year. Only four other States fared worse. In the country as a whole, median household income fell 2.2 percent last year, the first drop since 1991. So this legislation is crucial for Michigan's hard-pressed workers and their families, as well as for workers across the land.
This is not just doing what is fair and what is right and what is equitable. Those reasons ought to be sufficient. In addition to that, providing additional benefits is a good stimulus for our ailing economy. The money we are talking about is money that will be spent. Those eligible to receive these benefits are people trying to make ends meet on a day-to-day basis, people who need money to put food on the table, to buy a prescription drug, to make a car payment, to pay rent, or to pay a mortgage. They spend this money.
According to a 1999 Department of Labor study, every dollar invested in unemployment benefits generates $2.15 in gross domestic product. This bill extending unemployment benefits will put money into the hands of people who need it, people who will spend it, and that is good for our economy, as well as for them, because it sustains the jobs other people still have.
There may be Members who will argue we cannot afford to extend unemployment benefits. Obviously, we should be concerned about our current budget situation. The 10-year surplus projection has declined by $5.3 trillion, or 94 percent, since January of 2001. But our budget problem does not come from extending desperately needed benefits to out-of-work Americans.
The major problem is last year's $1.5 trillion tax cut which provides more benefits to the top 1 percent of all taxpayers than it does the bottom 80 percent of taxpayers combined. According to analysts who reviewed the CBO numbers, last year's tax cut is the single largest cause for our evaporated surplus.
September 11 and its aftermath had an enormous impact on an economy that was already sputtering. The economy has not recovered. There are signs that it will not recover for a while longer. The tax cut has blown a hole in our budget, yet it is not just the centerpiece of the administration's economic policy, it appears to be the only economic policy we hear about from the administration.
Since Congress passed a bipartisan extension of unemployment benefits in March, nearly 2 million people have exhausted those benefits without finding new jobs. The ability for them to receive additional benefits has expired. Yesterday, Senator Wellstone attempted to pass this bill by unanimous consent, but was prevented from doing so. This issue should be one of our top priorities. We should not leave this year without extending these benefits for America's unemployed. I am hopeful that Democrats and Republicans in Congress will be able to come together as we have done in the past and support the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2002.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mr. LEVIN. I thank the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the next 1 hour shall be under the control of the Republican leader or his designee.
The Senator from Oklahoma.
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