“Mr. Chairman, thank you for this opportunity to give bipartisan consideration of the President’s proposals on helping unemployed Americans. Hopefully, we can work together to seek meaningful solutions to the best ways to assist unemployed Americans prepare for and find new work.
“Today in America the problem we face is unemployment, not the unemployed. Too many Americans remain unemployed because of lack of work, not for their lack of wanting to work. We must stop the “blame the victim" approach of just blaming unemployment on the unemployed.
“Thus far this year, we have yet to vote on a single meaningful jobs bill, and threats to default on our debt and to shutdown the government have only further set back economic recovery and cost us job growth.
“There is a great difference in this country between those resting comfortably atop the economic ladder-- who don’t have to worry about unemployment insurance thanks to lavish severance packages -- and the rest of America.
“Last month, an executive was ejected from HP, Hewlett-Packard with a $13 million golden parachute after his company’s stock price dropped by half. Meanwhile, it was reported that the ranks of the working-age poor are at their highest level in more than 50 years. Luxury goods continue to fly off the shelf, but Walmart reduced the size of its packages of toilet tissue because too many people could not afford the regular size. When folks lose a job through no fault of their own, the least we can do is extend a lifeline.
“Today, we will examine those portions of the President’s American Jobs Act related to unemployment, including an extension of Federal unemployment insurance and several new initiatives designed to help the unemployed return to work. If Congress fails to act by Dec. 31, more than two million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits by the middle of February, and a total of over 6 million will lose benefits during 2012.
“The President’s proposal is a good place to start in addressing this problem-that doesn’t mean that I think he has all the answers or even necessarily the best answers on some aspects of this problem. But I especially would emphasize the need to renew extended unemployment assistance.
Terminating unemployment assistance would hurt our nation’s economy by further suppressing consumer demand and confidence. The Economic Policy Institute has estimated that allowing the extended Federal unemployment program to expire this year would cost our Nation over 500,000 jobs. This amounts to a double-whammy for the unemployed- they lose their benefits and jobs become even more difficult to locate.
“And there is near unanimity among economists that few government expenditures have more positive, stimulative effect on our economy than insurance payments to the unemployed, who of necessity must spend those dollars promptly for the necessities of life.
“But things could get even worse for the unemployed under spending plans recently released by the House Appropriations Committee. This bill would cut funding for job training and employment services by 75 percent. So even as 14 million Americans struggle to find work, Republicans are preparing to make extraordinary cuts. No benefits, no training and no jobs equals no future for our Nation’s unemployed.
“While vital, unemployment benefits are not generous. The average benefit of $300 a week reaches only about 70 percent of the poverty line for a family of four. Most unemployed want very much to work, but there are simply not enough jobs to go around. Even with the 2 million private-sector jobs that have been created over the last year and half, there remain roughly 7 million fewer jobs in the economy today than when the “Great Recession" started in December, 2007, during the Bush-Cheney Administration. This jobs deficit means that today in America there are over 4.3 unemployed workers for every available job. And that is why so often when new jobs are announced, the line of jobseekers stretches around the corner.
“And while there has been much ballyhooing about the so-called Texas miracle, the unemployment rate in my state -- 8.5% -- stands higher today that at any time in the last 25 years. Our state is also a good example of what happens when ideological constraints and political imperatives produce decisions that harm both employees and employers. Texas employers are paying more because Governor Perry insisted that some of the unemployed receive less. Because the Governor rejected $555 million in federal support for the unemployed in 2009, Texas is now raising additional taxes on employers and incurring more public debt. Though we may not have as high an unemployment rate as in Ohio or Michigan, we have over 100,000 long-term unemployed workers who will lose their lifeline if these benefits are not extended.
“Let’s hope that this hearing is just the first step in forging a clear consensus that we must not abandon the millions of Americans, who depend on unemployment insurance to make ends meet, at the same time that they are actively seeking a new job. Let’s work together to move our economy forward and increase the opportunity for folks looking for work to find it."
