I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3341
To provide a short-term enhanced safety net for Americans losing their
jobs and to provide our Nation’s economy with a necessary boost.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 19, 2001
Mr. MCDERMOTT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on
Energy and Commerce, and Education and the Workforce, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
A BILL
To provide a short-term enhanced safety net for Americans
losing their jobs and to provide our Nation’s economy
with a necessary boost.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Putting Americans
First Act’’.
TITLE 
I—TEMPORARY 
UNEM-
PLOYMENT COMPENSATION
SEC. 101. FEDERAL-STATE AGREEMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any State which desires to do so
may enter into and participate in an agreement under this
title with the Secretary of Labor (hereinafter in this title
referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’). Any State which is a party
to an agreement under this title may, upon providing 30
days’ written notice to the Secretary, terminate such
agreement.
(b) PROVISIONS OF AGREEMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Any agreement under sub-
section (a) shall provide that the State agency of the
State will make—
(A) payments of regular compensation to
individuals in amounts and to the extent that
they would be determined if the State law were
applied with the modifications described in
paragraph (2), and
(B) payments of temporary supplemental
unemployment 
compensation 
to 
individuals
who—
(i) have exhausted all rights to reg-
ular compensation under the State law,
(ii) do not, with respect to a week,
have any rights to compensation (excluding
extended compensation) under the State
law of any other State (whether one that
has entered into an agreement under this
title or otherwise) nor compensation under
any other Federal law (other than under
the Federal-State Extended Unemployment
Compensation Act of 1970), and are not
paid or entitled to be paid any additional
compensation under any State or Federal
law, and
(iii) are not receiving compensation
with respect to such week under the unem-
ployment compensation law of Canada.
(2) MODIFICATIONS
DESCRIBED.—The modi-
fications described in this paragraph are as follows:
(A) An individual shall be eligible for reg-
ular compensation if the individual would be so
eligible, determined by applying—
(i) the base period that would other-
wise apply under the State law if this title
had not been enacted, or
(ii) a base period ending at the close
of the calendar quarter most recently com-
pleted before the date of the individual’s
application for benefits,
whichever results in the greater amount.
(B) An individual shall not be denied reg-
ular compensation under the State law’s provi-
sions relating to availability for work, active
search for work, or refusal to accept work, sole-
ly by virtue of the fact that such individual is
seeking, or available for, only part-time (and
not full-time) work.
(C)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the amount of
regular compensation (including dependents’ al-
lowances) payable for any week shall be equal
to the amount determined under the State law
(before the application of this subparagraph),
plus an additional—
(I) 25 percent, or
(II) $65,
whichever is greater.
(ii) In no event may the total amount de-
termined under clause (i) with respect to any
individual exceed the average weekly insured
wages of that individual in that calendar quar-
ter of the base period in which such individual’s
insured wages were the highest (or one such
quarter if his wages were the same for more
than one such quarter).
(c) NONREDUCTION RULE.—Under the agreement,
subsection (b)(2)(C) shall not apply (or shall cease to
apply) with respect to a State upon a determination by
the Secretary that the method governing the computation
of regular compensation under the State law of that State
has been modified in a way such that—
(1) the average weekly amount of regular com-
pensation which will be payable during the period of
the agreement (determined disregarding the modi-
fications described in subsection (b)(2)) will be less
than
(2) the average weekly amount of regular com-
pensation which would otherwise have been payable
during such period under the State law, as in effect
on September 11, 2001.
(d) COORDINATION RULES.—
(1) REGULAR COMPENSATION PAYABLE UNDER
A FEDERAL LAW.—The modifications described in
subsection (b)(2) shall also apply in determining the
amount of benefits payable under any Federal law to
the extent that those benefits are determined by ref-
erence to regular compensation payable under the
State law of the State involved.
(2) TSUC TO SERVE AS SECOND-TIER BENE-
FITS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
extended benefits shall not be payable to any indi-
vidual for any week for which temporary supple-
mental unemployment compensation is payable to
such individual.
(e) EXHAUSTION OF BENEFITS.—For purposes of
subsection (b)(1)(B)(i), an individual shall be considered
to have exhausted such individual’s rights to regular com-
pensation under a State law when—
(1) no payments of regular compensation can
be made under such law because such individual has
received all regular compensation available to such
individual based on employment or wages during
such individual’s base period, or
(2) such individual’s rights to such compensa-
tion have been terminated by reason of the expira-
tion of the benefit year with respect to which such
rights existed.
(f) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT, TERMS AND CONDI-
TIONS, ETC. RELATING TO TSUC.—For purposes of any
agreement under this title—
(1) the amount of temporary supplemental un-
employment compensation which shall be payable to
an individual for any week of total unemployment
shall be equal to the amount of regular compensa-
tion (including dependents’ allowances) payable to
such individual under the State law for a week for
total unemployment during such individual’s benefit
year,
(2) the terms and conditions of the State law
which apply to claims for regular compensation and
to the payment thereof shall apply to claims for tem-
porary supplemental unemployment compensation
and the payment thereof, except where inconsistent
with the provisions of this title or with the regula-
tions or operating instructions of the Secretary pro-
mulgated to carry out this title, and
(3) the maximum amount of temporary supple-
mental unemployment compensation payable to any
individual for whom a temporary supplemental un-
employment compensation account is established
under section 103 shall not exceed the amount es-
tablished in such account for such individual.
SEC. 103. TEMPORARY SUPPLEMENTAL UNEMPLOYMENT
COMPENSATION ACCOUNT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Any agreement under this title
shall provide that the State will establish, for each eligible
individual who files an application for temporary supple-
mental unemployment compensation, a temporary supple-
mental unemployment compensation account.
(b) AMOUNT IN ACCOUNT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount established in
an account under subsection (a) shall be equal to the
product obtained by multiplying an individual’s
weekly benefit amount by the applicable factor under
paragraph (3).
(2) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT.—For purposes
of this subsection, an individual’s weekly benefit
amount for any week is the amount of regular com-
pensation (including dependents’ allowances) under
the State law payable to such individual for a week
of total unemployment in such individual’s benefit
year.
(3) APPLICABLE FACTOR.—
(A) GENERAL RULE.—The applicable fac-
tor under this paragraph is 13, unless the indi-
vidual’s benefit year begins or ends during a pe-
riod of high unemployment within such individ-
ual’s State, in which case the applicable factor
is 26.
(B) PERIOD OF HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT.—
For purposes of this paragraph, a period of
high unemployment within a State shall begin
and end, if at all, in a way (to be set forth
in the State’s agreement under this title) simi-
lar to the way in which an extended benefit pe-
riod would under section 203 of the Federal-
State Extended Unemployment Compensation
Act of 1970, subject to the following:
(i) To determine if there is a State
‘‘on’’ or ‘‘off’’ indicator, apply section
203(f) of such Act, but—
(I) substitute ‘‘5 percent’’ for
‘‘6.5 percent’’ in paragraph (1)(A)(i)
thereof, and
(II) 
disregard 
paragraph
(1)(A)(ii) thereof and the last sen-
tence of paragraph (1) thereof.
(ii) To determine the beginning and
ending dates of a period of high unemploy-
ment within a State, apply section 203(a)
and (b) of such Act, except that—
(I) in applying such section
203(a), deem paragraphs (1) and (2)
thereof to be amended by striking
‘‘the third week after’’, and
(II) in applying such section
203(b), deem paragraph (1)(A) there-
of amended by striking ‘‘thirteen’’ and
inserting ‘‘twenty-six’’ and paragraph
(1)(B) thereof amended by striking
‘‘fourteenth’’ and inserting ‘‘twenty-
seventh’’.
(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of
any computation under paragraph (1) (and any de-
termination of amount under section 101(f)(1)), the
modification described in section 101(b)(2)(C) (re-
lating to increased benefits) shall be deemed to have
been in effect with respect to the entirety of the ben-
efit year involved.
(c) ELIGIBILITY PERIOD.—An individual whose ap-
plicable factor under subsection (b)(3) is 26 shall be eligi-
ble for temporary supplemental unemployment compensa-
tion for each week of total unemployment in his benefit
year which begins in the State’s period of high unemploy-
ment and, if his benefit year ends within such period, any
such weeks thereafter which begin in such period of high
unemployment, not to exceed a total of 26 weeks.
SEC. 104. PAYMENTS TO STATES HAVING AGREEMENTS
UNDER THIS TITLE.
(a) GENERAL RULE.—There shall be paid to each
State which has entered into an agreement under this title
an amount equal to—
(1) 100 percent of any regular compensation
made payable to individuals by such State by virtue
of the modifications which are described in section
101(b)(2) and deemed to be in effect with respect to
such State pursuant to section 101(b)(1)(A),
(2) 100 percent of any regular compensation—
(A) which is paid to individuals by such
State by reason of the fact that its State law
contains provisions comparable to the modifica-
tions described in section 101(b)(2)(A)–(B), but
only
(B) to the extent that those amounts
would, if such amounts were instead payable by
virtue of the State law’s being deemed to be so
modified pursuant to section 101(b)(1)(A), have
been reimbursable under paragraph (1), and
(3) 100 percent of the temporary supplemental
unemployment compensation paid to individuals by
the State pursuant to such agreement.
(b) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT.—Sums under sub-
section (a) payable to any State by reason of such State
having an agreement under this title shall be payable, ei-
ther in advance or by way of reimbursement (as may be
determined by the Secretary), in such amounts as the Sec-
retary estimates the State will be entitled to receive under
this title for each calendar month, reduced or increased,
as the case may be, by any amount by which the Secretary
finds that the Secretary’s estimates for any prior calendar
month were greater or less than the amounts which should
have been paid to the State. Such estimates may be made
on the basis of such statistical, sampling, or other method
as may be agreed upon by the Secretary and the State
agency of the State involved.
(c) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES, ETC.—There is
hereby appropriated out of the employment security ad-
ministration account of the Unemployment Trust Fund
(as established by section 901(a) of the Social Security
Act) $500,000,000 to reimburse States for the costs of
the administration of agreements under this title (includ-
ing any improvements in technology in connection there-
with) and to provide reemployment services to unemploy-
ment compensation claimants in States having agreements
under this title. Each State’s share of the amount appro-
priated by the preceding sentence shall be determined by
the Secretary according to the factors described in section
302(a) of the Social Security Act and certified by the Sec-
retary to the Secretary of the Treasury.
SEC. 105. FINANCING PROVISIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Funds in the extended unemploy-
ment compensation account (as established by section
905(a) of the Social Security Act), and the Federal unem-
ployment account (as established by section 904(g) of the
Social Security Act), of the Unemployment Trust Fund
shall be used, in accordance with subsection (b), for the
making of payments (described in section 103(a)) to
States having agreements entered into under this title.
(b) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall from time
to time certify to the Secretary of the Treasury for pay-
ment to each State the sums described in section 103(a)
which are payable to such State under this title. The Sec-
retary of the Treasury, prior to audit or settlement by the
General Accounting Office, shall make payments to the
State in accordance with such certification by transfers
from the extended unemployment compensation account
(or, to the extent that there are insufficient funds in that
account, from the Federal unemployment account) to the
account of such State in the Unemployment Trust Fund.
SEC. 106. FRAUD AND OVERPAYMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—If an individual knowingly has
made, or caused to be made by another, a false statement
or representation of a material fact, or knowingly has
failed, or caused another to fail, to disclose a material fact,
and as a result of such false statement or representation
or of such nondisclosure such individual has received any
regular compensation or temporary supplemental unem-
ployment compensation under this title to which he was
not entitled, such individual—
(1) shall be ineligible for any further benefits
under this title in accordance with the provisions of
the applicable State unemployment compensation
law relating to fraud in connection with a claim for
unemployment compensation, and
(2) shall be subject to prosecution under section
1001 of title 18, United States Code.
(b) REPAYMENT.—In the case of individuals who
have received any regular compensation or temporary sup-
plemental unemployment compensation under this title to
which they were not entitled, the State shall require such
individuals to repay those benefits to the State agency,
except that the State agency may waive such repayment
if it determines that—
(1) the payment of such benefits was without
fault on the part of any such individual, and
(2) such repayment would be contrary to equity
and good conscience.
(c) RECOVERY BY STATE AGENCY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The State agency may re-
cover the amount to be repaid, or any part thereof,
by deductions from any regular compensation or
temporary supplemental unemployment compensa-
tion payable to such individual under this title or
from any unemployment compensation payable to
such individual under any Federal unemployment
compensation law administered by the State agency
or under any other Federal law administered by the
State agency which provides for the payment of any
assistance or allowance with respect to any week of
unemployment, during the 3-year period after the
date such individuals received the payment of the
regular compensation or temporary supplemental un-
employment compensation to which they were not
entitled, except that no single deduction may exceed
50 percent of the weekly benefit amount from which
such deduction is made.
(2) OPPORTUNITY FOR HEARING.—No repay-
ment shall be required, and no deduction shall be
made, until a determination has been made, notice
thereof and an opportunity for a fair hearing has
been given to the individual, and the determination
has become final.
(d) REVIEW.—Any determination by a State agency
under this section shall be subject to review in the same
manner and to the same extent as determinations under
the State unemployment compensation law, and only in
that manner and to that extent.
SEC. 107. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this title:
(1) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘compensation’’,
‘‘regular compensation’’, ‘‘extended compensation’’,
‘‘additional compensation’’, ‘‘benefit year’’, ‘‘base pe-
riod’’, ‘‘State’’, ‘‘State agency’’, ‘‘State law’’, and
‘‘week’’ have the respective meanings given such
terms under section 205 of the Federal-State Ex-
tended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970,
subject to paragraph (2).
(2) STATE
LAW
AND
REGULAR
COMPENSA-
TION.—In the case of a State entering into an
agreement under this title—
(A) ‘‘State law’’ shall be considered to
refer to the State law of such State, applied in
conformance with the modifications described in
section 101(b)(2), subject to section 101(c),
and
(B) ‘‘regular compensation’’ shall be con-
sidered to refer to such compensation, deter-
mined under its State law (applied in the man-
ner described in subparagraph (A)),
except as otherwise provided or where the context
clearly indicates otherwise.
SEC. 108. APPLICABILITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—An agreement entered into under
this title shall apply to weeks of unemployment—
(1) beginning after the date on which such
agreement is entered into, and
(2) ending before January 1, 2003.
(b) SPECIFIC RULES.—Under such an agreement—
(1) the modification described in section
101(b)(2)(A) (relating to alternative base periods)
shall not apply except in the case of initial claims
filed after September 11, 2001,
(2) the modifications described in section
101(b)(2)(B)–(C) (relating to part-time employment
and increased benefits, respectively) shall apply to
weeks of unemployment (described in subsection
(a)), irrespective of the date on which an individual’s
claim for benefits is filed, and
(3) 
the 
payments 
described 
in 
section
101(b)(1)(B) (relating to temporary supplemental
unemployment compensation) shall not apply except
in the case of individuals exhausting their rights to
regular compensation (as described in clause (i)
thereof) after September 11, 2001.
TITLE II—HEALTH INSURANCE
COVERAGE OPTIONS FOR RE-
CENTLY UNEMPLOYED INDI-
VIDUALS AND THEIR FAMI-
LIES
SEC. 201. PREMIUM ASSISTANCE FOR COBRA CONTINU-
ATION COVERAGE FOR INDIVIDUALS AND
THEIR FAMILIES.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of
Labor, shall establish a program under which 75
percent of the premium for COBRA continuation
coverage shall be provided for an individual who—
(A) at any time during the period that be-
gins on September 11, 2001, and ends on De-
cember 31, 2002, is separated from employ-
ment; and
(B) is eligible for, and has elected coverage
under, COBRA continuation coverage.
(2) INCLUSION OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS.—For
purposes of paragraph (1), the spouse, child, or
other individual who was an insured under health in-
surance coverage of an individual who was killed as