Political Quotes

“I applaud my colleague from Ohio for his stories from his home State on the families who have been dramatically impacted by the broken bridge between a lost job and the next job. Indeed, in my home State there are about 26,000 folks who are affected in this manner. We can think of it as the space between two jobs, as a chasm--a chasm that threatens the success of every family. They are hoping to make their payment on their light bill. They are hoping to make their rent payment or their mortgage payment. But they have to make it to that next job, and savings run thin, particularly when savings are very hard to come by when our economy is generating fewer and fewer living-wage jobs. In the last recession of 2008, 60 percent of the jobs lost were living-wage jobs. But of the jobs we are getting back, only 40 percent are living-wage jobs. Indeed, that means millions of families have gone from a strong foundation--the ability to raise children, to buy a modest home, perhaps take an annual vacation, perhaps to save a little bit of money to help send their kids to college--to struggling and chasing minimum wage or near minimum wage jobs, part-time jobs, and jobs that often have no benefits. All of those wrestling with this situation aren't going to have a big pile of savings to get from one position to the next. That is why, during periods of high unemployment, we have created a longer unemployment insurance bridge to get them successfully to that next job.…”