[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 154 (Tuesday, November 30, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8290-S8291]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I come to the floor to share
letters from Ohioans from all corners of my State, letters mostly from
people who have lost their jobs and depend on something called
unemployment insurance. It is insurance, not welfare, not giveaways.
People work at a business. Their employer pays into the unemployment
insurance fund. Obviously, it is money the employee does not get as
income, so we could say it either way: the employee pays or the
employer pays. Either way it is insurance. They pay into a fund. When
someone loses their job, they get assistance from the fund. This is why
it works so well.
When the unemployment rate is above a certain level, a relatively
high unemployment rate, we always have extended and maintained
unemployment insurance benefits for those workers who have lost jobs.
We do that for two reasons: One, because it is the right thing to do if
someone loses their job. Whether it is in Boulder in the State of the
Presiding Officer or in Galion, OH, it is the humanitarian thing to do.
That worker who has lost their job can at least pay most of their bills
then, at least stay in the apartment or house and pay the mortgage, pay
the rent, pay for food, take care of the kids. They wouldn't be able to
without the unemployment insurance monthly payments.
The second reason we do it is, as one of John McCain's chief economic
advisers said repeatedly, a dollar in unemployment benefits is about
the best stimulus for the economy one could have. When we give a tax
cut to a millionaire, as most of my Republican colleagues want to do,
if we give $10,000 to a millionaire, they will likely not spend it.
They have already spent their money on what they want because they have
more than enough to do that. So a tax cut doesn't mean much to them.
But an unemployment check means that an unemployed worker will spend
that money in the community, at the grocery store, buying shoes for the
kids, paying the property tax, paying for their rent and gas bill,
paying for gas in the car to go around looking for jobs. The money is
recirculated. It is a good economic stimulus and the right thing to do
for the worker who has lost their job. That is why the Presiding
Officer and others have fought so hard to make sure those benefits are
there. It is not welfare; it is insurance.
In spite of what some conservative politicians like to suggest, that
it is people sitting around who don't want to work, almost everybody I
talked to--whether it was in Conneaut or Middleton or Sidney or
Portsmouth--who lost a job wants to go back to work. Unemployment
compensation is never as much as the person is making on the job. That
is under a formula. That is why they want to go back to work. Plus
these are hard-working people who understand that they need to keep
looking for a job.
For every job out there, there are roughly five people seeking a job.
That is a national figure. But in Ohio, it is no better. That is why I
am going to share these letters.
I will start with Timothy from Fairfield. That is a prosperous
suburban Cincinnati community in Butler County in southwest Ohio. It
happens everywhere, not just the inner city, not just rural Appalachia.
It is not just small towns or medium-size cities. It is generally
pretty affluent suburbs.
He writes:
Unemployment extensions end in about two weeks and once
again my family worries about what the future will bring.
The last delay made us unable to pay many bills on time and
we still have not fully recovered.
If another delay happens we will certainly be put in such a
hole that I don't see us getting out of.
Not to mention it's the holiday season and I really don't
know what I would tell my 4 and 7 year old if Christmas
wasn't as it has been in the past.
I am in the manufacturing field. I worked as an inspector
and quality engineer.
This next week will be my first of my final 20 weeks of
Ohio emergency unemployment. I search for openings in quality
inspectors and quality engineers within a 50 mile radius of
our town.
How is he going to afford gas if his unemployment extension runs out?
I found zero results. I have been applying for retail jobs,
janitorial jobs, and maintenance jobs.
If I even get to interview the answer is the same. You are
way overqualified for this job.
I was told that the new sporting goods store had over 3,000
applicants.
Are both sides willing to do what needs to be done to avoid
another delay? I don't know what we will do if the extension
is not passed in time.
It is unbelievable that my conservative colleagues are willing to
give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires but are unwilling to
maintain unemployment benefits for people such as Timothy. When one
thinks about that, it is also the anxiety that somebody like Tim feels
about his children, about his house, about his being able to provide
what he needs during the Christmas season or any other season. So many
people in this country have to wait until the Republicans drop their
filibuster in order for us to maintain these benefits. That is pretty
unconscionable.
Kelly from Summit County, the Akron area in northeast Ohio, writes:
Please help get the unemployment extension passed during
this session.
I am about to exhaust my benefits in three weeks. Everyday
I look for employment, but to no avail.
My mortgage company leaves no room for late or missing
payments.
I don't need the money for Christmas--I need it to pay my
bills and my mortgage.
There will be no Christmas this year, especially when I
begin to get behind on payments.
Kelly says what so many are saying in letters to our office, that
this is essential. Getting this relatively meager unemployment
assistance, not a lot of money but enough to at least pay her rent--
although I don't know if Kelly is male or female--but to pay the rent,
not Christmas presents, nothing elaborate, not even Christmas dinner
but to just pay the rent.
Richard from Summit County says:
I am writing to share the reality of my situation that I'm
sure millions are also experiencing. Today I filed my final
claim for unemployment. This is the moment that made me lay
awake at night. The reality is at our home there will be no
Thanksgiving and no Christmas this year. I hear carols being
played, I see ads for Christmas sales. It makes me depressed
like never before. I feel the gifts and celebrations are
meant for other people--the ``haves.'' No more money for my
diabetes medicine, dental checkups, eye drops for glaucoma.
Never have I felt like throwing in the towel before now.
I just wish my colleagues would talk to people like Richard: When I
hear carols being played for Christmas sales, it makes me depressed
like never before. I feel the gifts and celebrations are meant for
other people. No more money for my diabetes meds, no more dental
checkups, no more eye drops for glaucoma.
Unemployment benefits are not going to make him comfortable or rich,
but it will help him get through these rough times. Instead, to make a
political point, my colleagues are saying we are not going to maintain
unemployment benefits.
The last one I will read is from Jacqueline from Cuyahoga County in
the Cleveland area:
[[Page S8291]]
I have been an unemployed human resources professional for
a year and a half. Even after having applied for over 170
jobs, I am still very active in my job search.
These are not people sitting around cashing their checks. She is
still very active in her job search.
I go to at least 2 networking events/meetings per week and
I keep a positive attitude in spite of my situation. Yes, I
have applied for jobs in other fields or professions which
use similar and transferable skills. I get no response. I
have worked with recruiters and head hunters, online
networks, and have appealed to friends and family members to
look for opportunities. I have worked full-time since I was
16 years old, even through college. At age 45 and as an
educated professional with so much to offer an organization,
I still want to work for many more years.
She has worked since she was 16. She is now 45. She has worked twice
as long as almost the age of these pages who sit in front of us. She
has worked for 29 years. She is not a deadbeat. She doesn't want to sit
around and collect unemployment. She wants a job. As I said, there are
five people pursuing every job out there.
Without unemployment benefits, my family would have lost
our home by now. I am begging you to fight to extend
unemployment benefits until more companies start hiring.
Please don't let 15 million Americans have to worry about
feeding their families this winter. Please urge your
colleagues to pass an unemployment benefit extension before
December 1.
December 1 is approaching. We still can't get our Republican
colleagues--it is pretty unbelievable. We have been through this for
the third time, I believe, in the last year or so where we have begged
and cajoled and pleaded and asked and done whatever we can to get our
colleagues to say yes, to not filibuster, to get our colleagues to say
yes, to get the supermajority, the 60 votes we need to extend the
unemployment benefits.
There is a lot of fear out there. Whether it is in Denver or
Cleveland, whether it is in Trinidad or Mansfield, there is all kinds
of anxiety and fear and anguish out there. We could do something in
this body to lessen it for our fellow Americans.
I ask my colleagues to move forward in maintaining unemployment
benefits for the millions of Americans for whom the Christmas season,
the holiday season will not be very happy this year.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning
business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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