Senator Cantwell to give response to President's radio address
National unemployment rate spikes to 6 %, Cantwell calls on Bush to show economic leadership
SEATTLE, WA - U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today announced that she would be delivering the Democratic response to the President's weekly radio address. Cantwell will speak about the importance of passing federal unemployment insurance and will call on the President to show leadership on the issue. It was announced today that the national unemployment rate increased to six percent - an eight year high.
The text of Senator Cantwell's remarks (as prepared) follows:
Good morning, and thank you for listening.
This is Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington state.
I'd like to take a few minutes to talk with you about an important economic issue that threatens to leave working families in America without the financial security they deserve.
On December 28th, nearly one million unemployed Americans will be completely cut off from an economic lifeline - temporary federal unemployment benefits.
When the House of Representatives adjourned in November, it did so without enacting good bipartisan legislation the Senate had already passed extending unemployment benefits.
Sending laid off workers into the holiday season without unemployment insurance is like playing Scrooge at Christmastime, giving American workers a lump of coal in their stockings instead of the economic security they deserve.
Everybody would rather have a paycheck than an unemployment check, but in these slow economic times temporary unemployment benefits help workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
Their cost is paid for entirely by the Unemployment Trust Fund, which with over $25 billion is in sound fiscal shape.
Unemployment insurance can also be a boost to an economy in need of stimulus.
Economists say that every dollar spent on unemployment benefits generates $2.15 of economic stimulus, injecting cash into the communities that need it most.
They provide, in the words of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, "a timely boost to disposable income."
And this economy needs a boost.
Over the last two years, the private sector has lost over two million jobs, unemployment has jumped by fifty percent, and home mortgage foreclosures are at a thirty year high.
My home state of Washington has suffered from both a high-tech recession and the devastation of the aviation industry, which has led to more than 30,000 layoffs at Boeing alone.
During a similar tough economic time in the 1990s, Presidents Bush and Clinton extended unemployment benefits five times to help working families make mortgage payments, pay health bills, and put food on the table.
Today, President Bush needs to ensure the same level of support for American families.
Although there has recently been some good economic news, our economy still shows signs of trouble.
The jobs picture remains bleak - a recent report by the national Business Roundtable said that sixty percent of executives planned to eliminate jobs in 2003, while only eleven percent thought they would add jobs.
Third-quarter business spending in the key areas of facilities and equipment dropped for the eighth consecutive quarter, car sales slumped towards the end of the quarter, and October's consumer confidence index was the second lowest in nine years.
Given the weak economic outlook for job creation, it became clear last month that Congress ought to extend temporary unemployment benefits past their December 28th expiration.
Under the leadership of Senator Hillary Clinton and with the bipartisan support of Senator Don Nickles, the Democratic Senate passed an extension of benefits through March 31, 2003.
The legislation Senator Clinton authored would not only have protected 820,000 American workers from being cut-off, it would have helped 1.2 million newly unemployed Americans receive benefits.
Senator Clinton's home state of New York was devastated by September 11th. Now, over 500,000 New Yorkers are out of work and New York City's unemployment rate stands at eight percent.
Yet the Republican-controlled House cut nearly one million Americans off of unemployment benefits, leaving American workers out in the cold.
The lack of compassion shown by the House on the eve of the holiday season is truly remarkable.
I ask my fellow Americans, is it fair to bailout corporate America while leaving American workers out in the lurch?
Do we really want 2002 to be remembered as the year of corporate excess for companies like Enron and greedy executives like Ken Lay?
I'd rather remember 2002 as the year that we helped hard-working Americans instead of giving them a raw deal.
The fight is not over - Democrats are going to make temporary unemployment benefits a top priority for economic stimulus when Congress reconvenes.
The President has an opportunity to provide leadership on the economy and to put the compassion into his compassionate conservativism by ensuring a timely passage of unemployment benefits in early January.
But so far, the White House has not shown the leadership or concern for American workers necessary to get this needed benefit passed.
Today, we are asking President Bush to send American families a holiday message that will make their New Year brighter by committing to make extending unemployment benefits a top priority for Congress when it returns on January 7.
American families deserve both economic security and national security.
Thank you once again for listening.
This is Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington state.
###
Next Article Previous Article
