Senator Sarbanes Rises in Support of Unemployment Benefits Extension

Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I want to respond to the Senator from Oklahoma, and urge my colleagues to support the Kennedy amendment.

What are workers to do in terms of supporting their family if they exhaust the 39 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits that they are eligible to receive? Senator Kennedy's answer is that under the current circumstances we provide an additional 13 weeks of benefits.

The labor market is not improving. It is worsening. The unemployment rate is rising, not falling. This notion that there are jobs to be had does not square with the facts. The economy is continuing to lose jobs. We lost 48,000 jobs last month. We have lost over half a million jobs already this year. The unemployment report stated that almost 9 million workers were unemployed in April. Just under 2 million workers have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. The number of long-term unemployed is as high as its been since January 1993.

The average duration of unemployed has risen to 19.6 weeks. This is the longest average duration reported during this recession, and it is the highest level in almost 20 years. What are these people to do?

The Kennedy amendment is very simple. It says that providing some continued support for those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own is more important than providing some of these tax cuts that are proposed in this legislation.

It makes sense for the individuals, and it makes sense for the economy. We are talking about trying to stimulate the economy. Extended unemployment insurance benefits are scheduled to stop and that will withdraw that much purchasing power out of the economy.

So I urge my colleagues to be supportive of this amendment. We face a worsening economic situation. Unemployment is rising. The opportunities in the job market are shrinking. We need to provide help to our workers and to their families to help them through this very difficult period. The Kennedy amendment seeks to do that.

The unemployment insurance trust funds have surpluses of almost $20 billion.

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. COLLINS). The Senator's time has expired.

Mr. SARBANES. Madam President, I yield myself 30 more seconds.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. SARBANES. The unemployment insurance trust funds have surpluses of approximately $20 billion. These moneys were paid into the trust fund for the announced purpose of paying unemployment insurance benefits in an economic downturn. Now we have an economic downturn. We have people out of work. We have the job market worsening, not improving. These surpluses ought to be used for the purpose for which they were intended; and that is, to provide extended unemployment insurance benefits. And those benefits ought to come ahead of any of the tax cuts.

I urge my colleagues to support the Kennedy amendment.

I yield the floor.