Date: 2010-07-19
Speaker: JACKSON LEE (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. it is a pleasure to be with you this evening. and I thank you for your leadership as we discuss with our colleagues a very important crisis that is now approaching to which. I hope. our message tonight really provides the stopgap. the finger in the dike. if you will. that is about to overrun itself. which is the numbers of Americans who are crying out to this Congress to do the right thing. I thank the gentlelady from Ohio for her persistent leadership and for her timeliness. because this is a very. very important need that needs action. and it needs action now. I guess I would like to add to this definition of what "unemployment benefits" are and what it means to extend them and the numbers of Americans who are now waiting. between 2 and 15 million Americans who are now waiting for those benefits to be extended. and the extension is simply adding to the 26 weeks that are now expiring. You mentioned that it was not a gift. and Id like to suggest something even more. I wonder if we have read recently the story of the good samaritan. That story has traveled with me throughout my public life. In fact. I believe that we on this floor and we in this body are really public servants. We work for the people. and we are to do the right thingtheir biddingas relates to the enhancement of the quality of life that they have been promised under our Constitution. In fact. the Declaration of Independence really says that we are created with the inalienable rights of life. liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That pursuit of happiness has a lot to do with prosperity and with the ability to provide for ones family. So. in this instance. the good samaritan is the Federal Government. but it is not in a position of handing out something. As the story goes. the good samaritan helps those who have been violated by others. and they could not help themselves. Its not that they purposely were laying alongside the road. They had been violated by others. In this instance. the individuals who are on unemployment now and who are looking for an unemployment benefit extension did not create the atmosphere in which they were not working. The very fact that they have ownership to unemployment benefits is the fact that they worked and that they created a trust with the Federal Government. They put their money in a trust while they were working. In addition. they made a contract. "I will work. and under the present laws. you will help me when I am out of work" when there is evidence. of course. that there is no work for these individuals to secure at this time. We have made great strides. Under the Bush administration. we were losing 750.000 jobs a month. We have gained jobs because of the stimulus package that the Democratic leadership and Members had voted for. and I am grateful that we took the risk under much accusations and criticism. In that process. we have elevated some to work. but. even with that effort. we find ourselves struggling because there are more people out of work than there are jobs at this time. So what we are asking the obstructionists to not do is to not block the bridge that these unemployed Americans need. Do not dissolve the trust. Do not breach the contract that we have made with Americans who have invested in their trust funds or in unemployment benefits by their taxes so that. if they were unemployed through no fault of their own. they could secure resources for what all the many stories of Americans will tell you. These are not resources for vacations. These are not resources for recreation. These are not resources just to stay home and to have an easy day. These people are taking these dollars to keep roofs over their heads. to pay their next mortgage payments. their health care bills. and their utility bills in the heat of the summer. Were having one of the hottest summers that you could ever imaginehigh utility bills. For some families who have children with asthma or respiratory illnesses. they need air conditioning. Their bills are high. Certainly. they simply need to provide food on the table for children. who are innocent. for seniors who may be living with families. who are innocent. for single parent heads of households. who are innocent. who literally have worked. A story I heard today at a hearing in Memphis on foreclosure about a woman with a number of children who worked as hard as she could. but the industry that she was in. furniture sales. obviously. home sales are down. furniture sales are down. she finds herself upon hard times. She needs unemployment insurance to make sure that she doesnt lose the small condominium that she has. These are painful stories. Sixtytwo percent of Americans agree that we should extend the unemployment benefits. The Congressional Budget Office policies that could be implemented relatively quickly are targeted toward people whose consumption tends to be restricted by their income. such as reducing payroll taxes for firms that increase payroll or increasing aid to the unemployed. would have the largest effects on output and employment per dollar of budgetary cost. meaning that extending unemployment benefits is one of the most costeffective ways of churning the economy but preventing people from collapsing under the weight and the burden of having nothing. It also speaks to the mental state of people who are struggling. They need to know that there is an out. theres a way that they can be provided for. And so. we. the Democrats. would provide for up to 99 weekly unemployment checks. averaging about $300. to people whose 26 weeks of Statepaid benefits have run out. The benefits would be extended toward the end of November. What can I say? Its a simple request. I ask the Senate Republicans to stop now from blocking hardworking Americans from being able to provide for their families. I ask you to accept the Democratic proposal of extending these benefits for 99 weeks. up to 99 weeks. and to do what we did in this House. Im appreciative of the gentleladys leadership and grateful that our leadership came to the floor tonight. Majority Leader STENY HOYER wanted our colleagues to know that the leadership stands firmly behind doing the right thing. As I close. I want to remind our colleagues of some stories that we heard early on. We were discussing another issue. Some may not be aware that some of our young soldiers have had to be on food stamps in the past. Democrats. of course. have corrected some of that by increasing their wages. But never let it be said that we are here making tomfoolery out of the budget of this Nation. Were here standing for people who are truly in need. And tomorrow will be the SOS day. the emergency day. the call day for action. And I hope that colleagues will remember the story of the Good Samaritan and provide and reinforce the trust and the contract made with the American people. that if you work. you invest. that when you need the rainy day umbrella of unemployment benefits extended. we will be there for you. I yield back to the gentlelady.