Louise Slaughter: “In my district close to 60,000 people remain unemployed due to a slowing economy. This measure will do little or nothing…”

“In my district close to 60,000 people remain unemployed due to a slowing economy. This measure will do little or nothing to alleviate the suffering of these families, and these statistics do not include the news this week that Eastman Kodak will cut 650 more jobs in my district or that Frontier Telephone will cut an additional 100 from its ranks almost immediately, before Thanksgiving Day. In New York since the enactment of temporary Federal legislation in March of this year, the unemployed workers have been able to qualify for federally funded benefits which in New York can last up to 13 weeks, but this program is proving wildly inadequate for New York. Exceptionally large numbers of workers are running out of Federal benefits before they find new employment. The severity of the exhaustion problem reflects the State's shaky labor market, and I wish I could say that New York was alone, but my colleagues know better. The measure before us not only fails to make necessary improvements to the program, it fails even to extend the program in its current form.”