The union times., 1945-09-22
CongressBalking At President s Liberal Policy
Green Says Appeal For Jobless Pay Bill Must
 Be Heeded

AsE sAs ACSAuCAt AAA0~AA Green this week gave un stinted praise to the recovery program proposed by Presi dent Truman in his message to Congress. MT. Green said
 s'President Truman has charted a course for the ma tion's future which every in telligent American must ap- plaud. It is now up to Con gress to implement the Presi' dents program by enactine the measures he recOm' mended.
 ssFirst and foremost O1 these is the Kilgore Unem' ployment Compensation bill
 "The American Federation of Labor joins President Truman in placing this bill at the top ot it's list of must legislation and will weigh the voting records of members of Congress accord ingly before making endorse ments in the next campaign.
 "Chief opposition to this bill stems from an unhOly comblna- tion of State bureaucrats, who wish to perpetuate themselves in office, and unprincipled big cor porations who would like to starve labor into submission. Some of these corporations have even gone so far as to hire ex- pensive lawyers to fight any claims submitted for State un- employment compensation.
 MISREPRESENTATION
 ssPresident Truman truly stated in his message that attempts have been made to misrepresent the Ob- jectives and purposes of the Kill gore Bill
 ssThe most serious of these mis- representations is the claim that Federal supplementatiOn of State unemployment compensation pay ments could not be permitted un- der the laws of some l8 States. The fact is that the provisions of these State laws were designed to prevent chiseling by compensation seekers. To say that such provisions would bar the Federal Government from adding to the inadequate State pay ments is a tortured interpretation of the law which would never stand up in court.
 Congress should not be guided in this matter by patrOndge-hungry State employees and paid prOpa- gandisfs, but by the President Of the United States, by the Social Se- curity Board, ,ohich is tamiliar ,oitla att the facts, and by its OsOn good common sense"
 LETTERS TO COMMITTEE
 MT. Green also made public letters to Chairman George of the Senate Finance Committee and Chairman Doughton of the House Ways and means Committee, now considering unemployment compensation legisla- tion. He wrote:
 "I have been much concerned about some of the transformation that has been presented in the course of the hearings on the bills dealing with supplementary unemployment compen- sation during the period of reconver- sion
 For example, a great deal of mis- understanding has resulted from the failure of the hearings to make it clear to the public that the fig ures of $25 and % weeks do not relate to fiat benefit schedules but to maximum limitations for which only small proportion of workers would be eligible. It is such misun- derstanding that causes the public to give weight to such meaningless phrases as 'rocking-chair money
 Some of this testimony runs to the contention that the proposals are not within the proper sphere of the Federal Government and that the mat ter should be left entirely to the States. It must be borne in mind that we never had any unemployment com pensation programs in this country until the Federal Government acted When the Social Security Act oi 1885 was passed not a single State in the. Union was paying unemploy- ment compensation benefits. Since the State programs were developed in re- snonse to the, leadership of the Con- gress, why is it not appropriate for Congress to act to meet proven na- tional need?
 NEED FEDERAL ACTION
 Moreover, the unemployment incl dent to the reconversion period IS un-