Date: 2005-09-20
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Madam Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker. I am glad to see the majority is acting quickly to provide assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. I believe it is moments like this that we see the greatness in America. whenAmericans join together and help one another in a positive. cando spirit. As we know. much help is needed. home. jobs. school. counseling. the list goes on and on. I am also glad to gee the Department of Labor is on the frontlines of providing job assistance. and arranging jobs for and estiinated 400.000unemployed. The bill before us today takes the first step by permitting the Secretary of Labor to provide National Emergency grants outside the disaster area so that the individuals who have been evacuated throughout the country can receive assistance. It permits the Secretary to help individuals who may not have proper documents with them. It permits the Secretary to give grants to States to place individuals in public sector jobs. And it permits the Secretary to provide income support for those individuals if they exhaust their unemployment benefits and are in training programs. Changes made today would permit States to use unspent funds for protective safety equipment. I laud the majority for recognizing and supporting the role of the public sector jobs and income support play in getting the unemployed into the workforce and into good jobs. However. I do want to note that there are a lot of unanswered questions about this bill and how it will be implemented. and I am hopeful that these questions will be answered in the coming weeks and months as additional legislation is needed and as we work out this legislation. The first question is. in what types of jobs will individuals be placed? Will displaced individuals be placed in lowwage jobs? Under the Departments existing regulations. unemployed individuals can be employed in jobs earning up to a maximum of $12.000 over 6 months. That means a maximum of $8 an hour. - Will all individuals be placed at the maximum rate.. or will some jobs be deadend. minimumwage jobs? Will the focus be on shortterm cleanup jobs or jobs that can lead to a decent standard of living? These are important questions to those individuals in the area who are trying torestore their lives and restore the ability to maintain the standard of living for their families. The second question is. how much money will the Department of Labor seek for providing job assistance to the Katrina victims? The bill expands the Departments national emergency grant authority. but the DOL does not have any grant funds remaining. The fiscal year 2005 budget by the Department of Labor appropriates $157.8 million in national emergency grant funds. and DOL has already promised $191 million to help Katrina victims. [ 1430 House 2006 appropriations would only award DOL $212 million. Any significant effort to assist Katrina victims will require additional funding. DOL has not yet sent up or in any way indicated how much additional funding it will seek for these efforts. nor has the Department of Labor indicated how much. if any. of the already appropriated $62 billion will be used for training or job creation. Third. what health. safety. and labor protections will be afforded displaced workers assigned to this work? The administration has issued an executive order taking DavisBacon wage protections away from construction workers who will rebuild the gulf coast. suspended many affirmative action rules for reconstruction contracts. and suspended regulations limiting the number of hours truck drivers can drive while transporting fuel. After September 11. many workers at and near the cleanup grounds of Ground Zero did not have proper health and safety protections. A change made this morning permits States to use unspent emergency funds on protective safety gear. And this is a good beginning. but the bill still does not make this a requirement. This is especially disturbing in light of the fact that the bill creates public employment in Louisiana. Mississippi. and Alabama. which do not have health and safety protections for their State and local workforces. Fourth. will the funds be used to oppose extended unemployment benefits for longterm unemployed or an expand6d disaster unemployment assistance program? The bill permits Statesto provide incomerelated payments to individuals who are unemployed and have exhausted unemployment benefits. It also expands the current authority from just individuals in training to those who are seeking work. but not in training. In the past. the Bush administration proposed similar initiatives as a way of preventing Congress from providing extended unemployment benefits to the longterm unemployed. Will DOL grants be used as a vehicle to weaken the unemployment insurance system? Will this program be a substitute for an expanded disaster unemployment assistance program which would provide unemployment benefits to all workers unemployed as a result of the disaster? If this program is a substitute for extended unemployment insurance or expanded disaster unemployment assistance. and the administration seeks only limited WIA national emergency grant funding. far fewer workers would be helped. These requests must be answered soon. Finally. what accountability require-. ments will apply? Many speakers. some today. talked on the floor about their concern about the rate at which we are spending money and whether or not there is an accountability system for the expenditure of that money. These grants are made by the Secretary of Labor on a discretionary basis. There is no requirement for adequate coordination with the States needs and activities. There must be standards by which Congress and the public can monitor the use and the effectiveness of these grants. I urge the majority to answer these unanswered questions. And in closing. again I commend the majority for making this a very important first step to try to get these funds to help these individuals who need employment and need the income from that employment. We need a comprehensive and thoughtful plan to address this crisis. This bill is that first step. and I look forward to the majoritys consideration of a comprehensive. longterm effort to rebuild the affected southern coastal States. Madam Speaker. I reserve the balance of my time.