Tom Harkin: “I come to the floor today deeply disappointed by the outcome of the final agreement on the supplemental appropriations…”

“I come to the floor today deeply disappointed by the outcome of the final agreement on the supplemental appropriations bill, which deleted the Senate recommendation of $400,000,000 for dislocated worker assistance under the Workforce Investment Act. I know that to break the impasse with OMB to get this supplemental enacted, with vitally important items for national defense and homeland security, the leadership of the House and Senate had to agree to reduce the overall size of this supplemental. Our leadership was hard-pressed by the administration to accept unpopular cuts. Sadly, the final agreement eliminated all supplemental funding for dislocated worker assistance. Most disturbing was the elimination of the $110,000,000 component which had been requested by the administration, and included in both House and Senate versions of the supplemental, to restore last year's rescission of dislocated worker funding. This rescission was enacted when it appeared there was sufficient unspent carryover funding in a brandnew workforce system, and Congress needed to offset an emergency supplemental for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance. Since that time, spending by local workforce agencies has accelerated, while the economic downturn has resulted in a continuing, nagging rise in unemployment. In the last year, more than 2 million workers have lost their jobs.”