Congressional Black Caucus Addresses Unemployment Benefits

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, before I start, let me thank the gentleman from Nevada for his leadership through the first session of the 113th Congress and into the second session of the 113th Congress. I am honored to be one of the freshmen--actually the ranking freshman in the CBC, if I can take that liberty--but the gentleman from Nevada and the gentleman from New York have distinguished themselves in the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus in the first session of the 113th Congress, and I am honored to serve with them.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today for the 90,000 New Jerseyans who lost their unemployment insurance on December 28 and the 89,000 more New Jerseyans set to lose unemployment benefits in the first half of the new year.

The people back in my district can't understand how out of touch some of my Republican colleagues have become to think that cutting off this assistance will force the unemployed to get a job. Well, I have news for my colleagues: these people are not lazy, quite the opposite. These people are out every single day searching desperately for work, but the fact of the matter is there just aren't enough jobs for the amount of people unemployed.

It is up to Congress to pass a jobs bill to put these people back to work, but this Congress has not done that. Until that time comes, we have a moral obligation to help our fellow Americans out and give them the economic security that they need to put food on the table, to keep a roof over their head, and to pay their bills so that they have the ability to continue to look for a job.

Mr. Speaker, it is called insurance for a reason. These people have paid into this fund, and they must be actively searching for work to receive this critical lifeline. They might have paid into the system for 5, 10, and even 20 years to receive this assistance, and now we talk about cutting them off.

They are filled with anxiety as they compete against hundreds of others for a job. I know, I have heard their stories.

A young man by the name of Adam, an arts teacher

from Montclair, New Jersey, who holds a master's degree from Columbia University, recently lost his job--through no fault of his own--because of funding cuts in education. Despite his best efforts, he, like so many others, has been unable to find work. With every passing day, anxiety for the well-being of Adam's family grows. Through no fault of his own, he finds himself in this predicament.

Another young man from my district, Jeffrey from Bloomfield, New Jersey, is now gainfully employed, but was fortunate enough to have unemployment when he lost his job. When he hit hard times during the recession, Jeffrey was thankful that he had at least some money coming in to make ends meet. In his letter to me Jeffrey wrote:

I am concerned for my friends and neighbors who might not have been so lucky, who will be devastated by the sudden loss of income. The ability to pay for a roof over one's head and basic living expenses may seem a small measure of dignity, but it means the world to someone who has lost their job that they have devoted years of their life to.

So I urge my Republican colleagues and the leadership to listen to people like Adam and Jeffrey, to understand this is not about people who are lazy or who are sitting around or who are just biding time and taking in a stipend that they haven't paid into or deserve. These are Americans, your friends, your neighbors, people we all know, relatives, that find themselves in this situation. We must do something for them. We must continue to make sure that they can meet their needs on a minimum basis to keep them afloat until they can find a job. So I urge the Republican House leadership to listen to people like them.

Mr. Speaker, we need to put a bill on the floor that extends unemployment insurance right away; otherwise each and every week my Republican colleagues delay, more than 3,400 more New Jerseyans are kicked off unemployment and find themselves in devastating circumstances.

It is unconscionable, it is unacceptable, and we must as the Congress of the United States of America do something about it.

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