American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010--Continued

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am here to speak to this bill we are considering, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. Too many people in New Hampshire and across this country are still struggling. I wish to talk today about some of the provisions that are in the legislation before us, provisions that will create jobs, grow small businesses, and help unemployed Americans who are still struggling to get back to work.

As you know, Mr. President, we have been here before. On March 10 of this year, almost 3 months ago, the Senate took up and passed a bill that contained most of the provisions we are considering today. That day, the Senate voted, with bipartisan support, to stand with working families and extend the safety net legislation and investment incentives that are helping us get through and out of this recession.

Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to send this bill to President Obama for his signature. For the last 3 months, we have had almost weekly standoffs on temporary measures to do what we already voted to do back in March, which is help people throughout this country get back to work. This delay has had real consequences. Over the last 6 months, the Federal unemployment program has expired four times--most recently, over Memorial Day.

Mr. President, you and I know the American people deserve better. The legislation before us will create jobs, it will increase demand for goods and services, and it will provide stability for Americans who have lost their jobs during this recession. In addition to extending unemployment benefits through November, the bill also renews a tax credit to support research and development; it waives the fees on business owners who take out Small Business Administration loans; it helps municipalities make critical infrastructure improvements; and it funds a much needed summer youth jobs program.

I know there are some people who think we have done all we should do. I, too, believe we must get back on a path to a balanced budget, but the best way to do that is to get this economy moving again. The latest jobs report from last Friday showed that we still have a lot of ground to make up. During these very difficult economic times, it is still necessary for the Federal Government to step up and help stimulate job creation through investments and tax cuts.

The national unemployment rate is still over 9 percent. In many communities, it is much higher than that. What is more, nearly 7 million people--nearly half of all Americans collecting unemployment benefits--have been out of work for 6 months or longer. They have run out of the benefits provided by their States. These are the workers who are collecting Federal unemployment benefits, which they are using to pay the rent, make mortgage payments, buy groceries, and put gas in their cars to go out and look for the next job. This legislation extends this vital program until the end of November.

Another group of Americans who are helped by this legislation and who are hurting right now are teenagers. These young people have an unemployment rate that is more than double the national average. In fact, right now young people are having a harder time finding jobs than at any time since World War II.

Last week, I visited Nashua, NH, and Dover High School in Dover, NH, where I used to teach school. A lot of the students in both of those communities are pretty excited about summer beginning. Many of those students want to work this summer. Many of them need to work to help save for college, to help their families. Unfortunately, because of the recession, it is more difficult for a teenager to get a job today than it has been in a very long time. High unemployment has forced more adults to compete for every job, and they are often filling jobs that once went to young people. That is a problem for young people, and it is a threat to the future of the economy.

Last year, Congress stepped in and created a summer jobs program to employ tens of thousands of teens, which included over 500 young people in New Hampshire.

I got to meet two of those students last week. Dawn White, who will be a senior at Dover High School this fall, talked to me about her ``life-changing summer job experience'' that she had last summer as a result of the dollars we put in to help fund summer jobs. She worked setting up exhibits at a local children's museum. Dawn told me that having that summer job built her confidence and helped her identify a new goal for the future to work with children. In Nashua, I met Elizabeth Madol, a senior at Trinity High School in Manchester. She worked at the public library in Manchester and helped young children with summer reading and other activities. She told me that this had been her first job and that because of it she now has the skills and work experience she needs to get another job this year. Those are just two stories out of hundreds of young people in New Hampshire and all across this country. Those are young people who, because of those summer jobs, have had phenomenal results.

An independent study showed that young people were excited by the skills they gained through summer work and they left better prepared to join the workforce. They were exposed to new careers and new opportunities. They learned about responsibility and developed professional relationships. Many even left with job offers for after they graduated. This is particularly important for us because many of these young people are young people who, without those summer jobs, would never have a chance to enter the workforce or they would enter at a time that would leave them behind for years to come.

The legislation before us contains $1 billion to extend the summer jobs program for another year, creating tens of thousands of jobs and giving hundreds more young people in New Hampshire and hundreds of thousands more across this country the chance to work. We can't build a 21st-century economy unless we start building our young workforce. We need workers with all kinds of skills and interests. By giving teenagers a foot in the door today, they will give back to our economy in the future. That is the power of what the funds in this legislation for summer jobs can do.

Finally, the legislation we are considering takes away tax breaks that reward corporations for sending jobs overseas, and it gives tax incentives to small businesses to create jobs right here in America.

This is a good bill. It is legislation that will make a real difference in our communities by creating jobs and helping struggling families. It is an investment in our present, and it is an investment in our future. I urge my colleagues to once again support the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act.

I yield the floor.

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