Bill Pascrell: “During that period of time, which was a bellwether for what was going to happen--which was a distant early warning…”

“During that period of time, which was a bellwether for what was going to happen--which was a distant early warning signal--why we couldn't understand where is this money going if everybody's making profits? And then we examined the record. Where was it going? It was going to corporate profits because nobody was watching. There was no oversight. These unemployed are suffering because of those profits in times where we were starting to tighten our belt and understand what was coming our way. The emergency unemployment compensation program began to phase out at the end of May, so this bill will retroactively restore those necessary benefits. This is dignity we're talking about. This is a man or woman looking at their families and saying, We are going to eat tomorrow; we are going to pay the electric bill; and we are going to pay the rent. I think this is important and critical. After two wars and after two massive tax cuts to help the rich--that you never paid for--you have the nerve to tell the unemployed people in this country that you must be wanting to be unemployed. "I'm sorry, we cannot help you." But if you're part of corporate America and you stuck it to the Americans in the middle class of this country and the poor, "That's all right. We'll find a way to bail you out." Let's make sense. Let's be fair.”