On the recordJuly 20, 2010
This bill is about jobs. This bill is about compassion. This bill would extend unemployment insurance for people who have lost their jobs. This bill is about jobs because unemployment insurance goes to people who spend it immediately. That would increase economic demand, and that would help support our fragile economic recovery. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that additional unemployment benefits would have one of the largest effects on economic output and employment per dollar spent compared with any other policy. A fancy term is the ``multiplier effect.'' Dollars spent on unemployment benefits have a much greater effect on the economy, a bigger bang for the buck than almost any other dollar expended by the Federal Government. It stimulates the economy. Unemployment benefits stimulate the economy, and clearly it helps the people who have lost their jobs. Of the 11 policies CBO analyzed, the Congressional Budget Office ranked increasing aid to the unemployed first. It is No. 1. CBO says it will create the most jobs per dollar of budgetary cost. As I mentioned, this vote is really about compassion. As of this week, more than 2.5 million out-of-work Americans have stopped receiving unemployment insurance benefits because Congress has failed to enact this bill.
