Democrats Call for Immediate Consideration of Unemployment Extension Legislation in Letter to Majority Leader Frist

DEMOCRATS CALL FOR IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION OF UNEMPLOYMENT EXTENSION LEGISLATION IN LETTER TO MAJORITY LEADER FRIST

Below is a letter signed by 9 members of the Senate -- including members of the Senate Finance Committee -- asking Senate Majority Leader Frist to bring unemployment extension legislation to the floor immediately. Tomorrow, the unemployment rate for April will be released, and is expected to remain high. Last month, the unemployment rate reached 5.8%. Starting May 31st, 80,000 workers per week will run out of unemployment benefits.

May 1, 2003

Dear Majority Leader Frist:

Our economy has continued to worsen for the last two years, and there are 2 million fewer jobs than there were when the recession began. Americans are suffering. In the bleak economic times, our first priority is to get America back to work.
But Americans who are out of work through no fault of their own need help, and they need it now. The economy is creating only one job for every three unemployed workers. The Administration's own budget predicts high unemployment for the rest of this year.

Soon the Senate will consider yet another extension in unemployment benefits for workers. But given the prolonged recession, this extension cannot be business as usual. This time, we urge your leadership not only to extend benefits for those currently in the program, but also for the millions of Americans who are long-term unemployed and part-time and low-wage workers.

Historically, in times of recession we have increased the duration of benefits to workers with overwhelming bipartisan support. President George H.W. Bush signed into law three extensions " at the peak providing 26 weeks of benefits in most states and 33 weeks of benefits in high unemployment states. Twice as many workers are running out of benefits today than during the first year of that recession.

In the last recession, we also made sure that workers who ran out of federal benefits but still could not find work were not left in the cold. Today, one in five unemployed workers has been out of work for more than six months. In January, we left one million of these long-term unemployed without jobs and without any safety net. Today, there are 100,000 more.

Clearly, we owe it to all workers who have lost jobs in this economy to provide help while they look for new jobs. The actions in recent months to extend benefits have left too many workers in the cold " particularly compared to America's response in the past. In 1975, 75 percent of unemployed workers were eligible for unemployment benefits, compared to only half of such workers last year. Many of the unemployed who fail to receive benefits are part-time and low-wage workers. Part-time and low-wage workers pay into the system, and they should be able to rely on it while searching for a new job.

We look forward to working with you to ensure that Americans here at home who've been so hard hit by these troubled economic times receive the support they need and deserve.

Sincerely,
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy Sen. Hillary Clinton Sen. Maria Cantwell Sen. Jeff Bingaman Sen. Jay Rockefeller Sen. Jack Reed Sen. Richard Durbin Sen. Paul Sarbanes Sen. Carl Levin