Jerry Moran: “Despite a slow recovery, despite millions suffering on the unemployment rolls, the Republican leadership has failed to…”

“Despite a slow recovery, despite millions suffering on the unemployment rolls, the Republican leadership has failed to bring a jobs bill to this floor during the first 100 days. Now we learn that one in name only is under consideration. It is called the Jobs Opportunity Benefits and Services Act, which of course cleverly has the acronym JOBS, but it is not going to create jobs. It is actually designed to cut off emergency unemployment benefits, eliminating the guarantee of Federal payments for temporary extended unemployment benefits, on July 6. It is kind of a cruel hoax to call a plan that cuts aid to working people a jobs bill. It enables States to divert more than $32 billion in Federal unemployment funds that is intended for unemployment benefits into block grants that can be used to cut taxes for businesses, pay off State's debts, or backfill their own State unemployment funds, but not necessarily to pay out benefits to those on the unemployment rolls. In fact, it grants some States permanent waivers to divert future unemployment funds from the people they were intended to help. Our unemployment rate has gone from 10.6 percent when President Obama took office to 9 percent, but it is still too high. We ought to be in the business of creating new jobs and not forcing breadwinners to foreclose on their mortgages and to default on their loans, but to provide for their families. That's the congressional agenda that we ought to be about. ____________________”