On the recordJanuary 8, 2014
50 years ago today President Lyndon Johnson challenged a joint session of Congress and the American people to begin a war on poverty. ``Unfortunately,'' President Johnson said, ``many Americans today live on the outskirts of hope. Our task is to replace their despair with opportunity.'' Since President Johnson first issued that call, Congress and our Nation have taken important steps to build and sustain a circle of protection around the most vulnerable in our society. That protection is not as complete or as strong as it can or should be, but through programs such as unemployment insurance--which we are considering this week in this Congress--we are more able to catch our neighbors when they fall and support them as they work to get back to their feet. Earlier this week this Senate began debate on whether to extend emergency unemployment insurance for the 3,600 Delawareans and more than 1 million American job seekers whose benefits just expired. It is absolutely critical that we approve this extension. During this fragile but sustained economic recovery, unemployment insurance has been a critical lifeline, one that has prevented millions of unemployed Americans from slipping further, falling into poverty. In 2012, unemployment insurance kept 2.5 million Americans, including 600,000 children, out of poverty. That means without Federal action to extend unemployment insurance, the Nation's poverty rate would have been doubled what it was.…
