Date: 1982-09-29
Speaker: ROBERT C. BYRD (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. in August. the Congress enacted the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982. That bill contained a provision that establishes a supplemental unemployment benefits program to provide additional weeks of benefits for the unemployed who cannot find work. Under that measure. the unemployed who exhaust other benefits will receive 10 weeks of supplemental benefits if they live in States that have been eligible for the . extended benefits program at some point since June 1 of this year. they will receive 8 weeks in States with moderately high unemployment. and they will receive 6 weeks in all other States. However. Mr. President. this provision leaves two very distressing and very substantial problems with the unemployment insurance system. as the Senator from Ohio has so capably pointed out. First. the extended benefits programthe permanent program that is intended to serve as the middle tier of benefitswas altered in two fundamental respects by .the Reconciliation Act of 1981. which make it more difficult for States to gain and maintain eligibility for the extended benefits program. The second problem that has developed has to do with the nature of the supplemental benefits program that was enacted as a part of the tax bill. As I noted previously. that program will provide additional weeks of benefits to unemployed workeis. but it will end abruptly on March 31 of next year. regardless of what has happened to the unemployment rate in the Nation as a whole or in any individual State. The combined effect of the 1981 Reconciliation Act changes in the extended benefits program. and the abrupt halt in the supplemental benefits program adopted as a part of this years Tax Act. is likely to be catastrophic for the unemployed in this Nation. Already. the unemployed in 14 States have lost eligibility for the extended benefits program. despite the fact that the unemployment rates in those States remain very high. Between now and the end of this year. the Congressional Budget Office projects that all but 7 or 8 States will lose eligibility for extended benefits as the. final - 1981 Reconciliation Act *change takes effect. Practically speaking. Mr. President. the extended benefits program will cease to exist in all but a handful of States. That simply must not be allowed to happen while unemployment remains at record levels. If the extended benefits problems are tot remedied. and if the supplemei: %1 benefits program is allowed to end precipitously on March 31 of the coming year. the unemployed in all but four or five States will be eligible for a maximum of 26 weeks of regular unemployment insurance past that point. They will be eligiblefor fewer weeks of unemployment insurance than were available in each of the last two much milder recessionsand fewer weeks than they were eligible to receive in the great majority of States as recently as a month or two ago. The Congress must not allow this to occur. We all are very familiar with our current tragically high national unemployment rate. Mr. President. Last month it was 9.8 percentthe highest rate in over 40 years. since before World War II. 11 million Americans were out of workand this does not even count those unemployed workers who are so discouraged that they have ceased to look for work because they simply cannot find jobs. nor millions who have been forced to work parttime or reduce the hours they work because fulltime work is not available to them. a In my own State. of West Virginia. the most recent Department of Labor statistics show. that over 109.000 people are unemployed and the unemployment rate is 13.7 percent. Mining and steel have record unemployment. Other industries and their employees are suffering similarly. Under these circumstances. it makes no sense to reduce unemployment benefits. I believe we have a very. very serious obligation to try to assist the unemployed of this Nation to contend with their plight. even as we seek to take steps to reinvigorate our economy. We must not allow the terrible burdens of this recession to fall on the backs of those who have invested their labor in making our Nation greatand who. more than anything else. badly want to return to work. It is for these reasons. Mr. President. that I am cosponsoring the amendment being offered by the Senator from Ohio. I believe this amendment properly addresses the problems I have described. and does so in the most responsible fashion. As the distinguished Senator from Ohio noted in his remarks. the amendment will postpone the two changes in the determination of State eligibility for the extended benefits program until the national.unemployment rate falls below 8.7 percent. The admini stration projects that this will occur before the end of the first calendar quarter of 1983. As a result. those States with continuing high unemployment will ietain eligibility for participation in extended benefits. In addition. the amendment will set expiration of the supplemental benefits program adopted as a part of the tax bill at the same time: When national unemployment drops to or below 8.7 percent. As a result. supplemental benefits will remain available in all States for so long as record unemployment persists. Mr. President. I do not believe this Congress can leave to go home at a time when more Americans are out of work than at any time since 1941 without assuring those Americans and their families that at least we will not cut off those benefits which have been available to them in the past. And I remind the Senate that we are not establishing any new unemployment benefit with this amendment. but only assuring that those that already are established will not be denied to the unemployed. I have an abiding belief that the American people are caring. compassionate peopleand that they want to help. and want their elected representatives in the Congress to help. those who have been buffetted by recessionary forces wholly beyond their control. This amendment will do just that. I urge each Senator to support it.