William Pryor: “in the year 2000, there were 38 million families in this country who owned an individual retirement account or…”

“in the year 2000, there were 38 million families in this country who owned an individual retirement account or participated in an employer-sponsored retirement savings plan. Since then, unemployment has climbed to 8.3 million people, with more than 1.9 million individuals unemployed more than 6 months. Six months without work is a long time, and it is enough time for people to lose their homes, give up their health care, run through their savings, and ruin their credit for many years to come. I know this because I hear from people in Arkansas who have gone from living the family dream, to living off of their families, and eventually living off of Government help. To add salt to the wound for many unemployed Americans, those individuals who are fortunate enough to have an individual retirement account are penalized a minimum of 10 percent if they withdraw funds from their account. I am offering a commonsense amendment that could make a real difference for individuals who have invested in their IRA but have exhausted all of their unemployment benefits while searching for a job.”