Home > 2008 Speeches

Mr. Speaker, everyday, in every corner of this nation and every sector of our economy, the casualties keep mounting.

Alcoa, Boeing, Caterpillar, Home Depot, Intel, Microsoft, Pfizer, Sprint, Texas Instruments, and countless small businesses.    

Over 11 million Americans have already lost their jobs-- the highest level in 25 years -- and every major economist says it’s going to get worse before it gets better. 

Behind every number is a personal story of an American family struggling to cope and survive this economic crisis. 

Behind every story is an American who deserves our help, has earned our help on the job, and has every right to expect Congress to act with all deliberate speed.  We must not let them down.

Helping these Americans while they look for work is not only the right thing to do for them, it’s also the right thing to do for our economy.  Unemployment insurance is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus because jobless Americans have little choice but to spend the money quickly.

Every UI dollar spent returns an economic impact of $1.64.  That’s the kind of significant return on investment that will help America re-start its economic engine.

This recovery package responds to rising unemployment with an historic level of assistance.

It provides $27 billion for a program of extended unemployment benefits.

For the first time ever, this legislation provides financial incentives for States to modernize their unemployment insurance programs and increase access to benefits.

The legislation provides the largest ever special distribution of $500 million to help States with processing UI claims and other administrative costs.

For the first time ever, this legislation provides a federal supplement to increase unemployment benefits by an extra $100 a month over the next year.

And again for the first time, we will provide assistance to unemployed workers who are trying to afford health care coverage.

The primary goal of this legislation is to create jobs.  But we must also help the unemployed as those jobs are being created, and this measure does just that.  By voting for this bill, we are standing up for the American people and standing alongside the American people, right where we belong.

I urge support for this critically important legislation and I yield back my time.