Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Cantwell Amendment

SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY STATEMENT ON THE CANTWELL AMENDMENT

The job numbers last Friday are welcome news for some, but for millions of others, the job crisis goes on. Corporate profits are rising, but employees' wages continue to fall, and middle class families are being squeezed from every direction. Year after year, they find it harder to earn a living - harder to pay the mortgage, harder to pay the medical bills, harder to send their sons and daughters to college. Under President Bush, Americans are losing their jobs, losing their pensions, losing their health benefits, losing their overtime pay, losing their unemployment benefits, and even losing their hope.

The economy is still down 1.5 million jobs since President Bush took office. 43 states still have higher unemployment than when the recession began three years ago. The share of long-term unemployed, those who have bee out of work for 27 weeks, is now at 22 percent, and it has never been so high for so long.

Even the jobs being created come with an asterisk. They pay 21 percent less than the jobs lost. In fact, nearly 40 percent of the jobs created last month and the month before were in low-paying industries.

Last week, the Senate said again that President Bush was wrong to deny overtime pay to millions of workers. Today, we have a chance to say that the Bush Administration is just as wrong to let long-term unemployment benefits expire for 1.5 million workers who still can't find a job in this troubled economy.

Month after month, President Bush has been weak on the economy, weak on jobs, and weak on solutions.

For millions of Americans, job security and wages keep falling, and expenses keep rising.

Health insurance premiums continue to soar at an alarming rate. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums increased by 14 percent last year-the third consecutive year of double-digit increases. Today, nearly forty-four million Americans are without health insurance, and the number is growing.

College costs are rising at double-digit rates as well. Tuition at public colleges went up by 13 percent last year, the steepest increase in 30 years.

For unemployed Americans, these costs are devastating. We know our workers are the most productive workers in the world. They take pride in doing a good job, providing for their families, putting their children through school, and saving for their retirement.

But for millions of Americans, that dream is vanishing. Years of saving and sacrifice have disappeared with a single pink slip. Instead of seeing a bright future, they now look at their children and say, "I'm sorry, we can't afford to stay in this house. We can't afford to send you to college. We can't afford a check-up with the doctor."

These are middle class Americans we are talking about. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, the job market has been particularly rough for workers with college degrees. The number of unemployed college graduates is now greater than the number of unemployed high-school dropouts for the first time on record.

Large and continuing increases in unemployment are rare for people with college degrees, even in recessions. The Bush Administration's support for outsourcing-for shipping white-collar jobs overseas-helps explain why unemployment has climbed so far up the education ladder today.

After losing their jobs, one in every four of the unemployed move to less expensive housing or move in with family or friends. More than a third can't pay their gas and electric bills. More than half cut back on food. A third have lost their health benefits.

But these hard-pressed fellow citizens are constantly ignored by the Bush Administration. In this economic downturn, with no jobs, these families have learned about being second-class citizens-about second mortgages, about second-hand clothes-about lesser lives. The millions of our fellow citizens hurt the most by this ongoing economic downturn deserve help, and they deserve it now.

The vast majority of these Americans have worked hard all their lives. They've paid into the unemployment insurance system, which now has a $13 billion surplus. But all the Administration says to these desperate citizens is - "Stop whining. Sure, you're out of work. Sure, you're struggling to pay your bills, but it's your own fault. It's not our fault. You're not looking hard enough for a job. Why should we let you keep collecting unemployment benefits? It only encourages you not to look for a job."

We have a President who dressed up in a flight suit and told our troops, "Mission Accomplished." For an encore, he should dress up as Marie Antoinette and say to the unemployed, "Let them eat cake."

Our first priority on the economy is to put these Americans back to work. Democrats have an economic plan to do just that, and an essential part of that plan is help for the unemployed.

First and foremost, that means extending unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. That's what this amendment does.

The Senate voted for it 58-39 once before, and the House voted for it 227-179. The only reason it hasn't been enacted into law is that the Republican leadership has continued to block final action on it, and the White House doesn't care.

The need now is even greater. I urge my colleagues to pass this amendment once more, and give these long-suffering working men and women and their families the support they deserve.

President Bush and our Republican colleagues should be embarrassed to hide behind a few good recent numbers, so they don't have to see the faces of the long-suffering unemployed. I urge President Bush and the Republicans in Congress to stop blocking this needed assistance for these long-suffering Americans.