On the recordMarch 13, 2014
On December 28, emergency unemployment benefits for Americans were cut off; and since then, 2 million Americans have lost their essential lifeline and have been missing their rent payments, missing their mortgage payments, trying to keep the house warm and put food on the table. Congress has failed to act. What is particularly concerning to me is some of the rhetoric that I hear would imply that those unemployed Americans are seeking benefits because they don't want to work. And, in fact, yesterday, I read a quote from the Budget Committee chairman--and I will try to get this correct--saying that, in America, there is a culture in our inner cities of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work. That is not the problem. The problem is a lack of opportunity. So I will take the chairman at his word that he was intending to say: so, therefore, we need to fully fund after-school programs, we need to fully fund pre-K programs, and we need to fully fund summer youth employment so that those young people do have a chance to experience the benefit and value of work, and that we provide a safety net to make sure that when they are not working, they don't lose their house, their car, and their family. ____________________
