Levin: Unemployment Benefits Bill “Vital to the Three-Quarters of a Million People in Michigan Who Are Unemployed”

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., filed the following floor statement today regarding the Senate’s consideration of a bill that will extend unemployment benefits.

Mr. President, the measure we have before us is vital to the three-quarters of a million people in Michigan who are unemployed. It is vital to the 15.1 million Americans who are unemployed. It will keep them in their homes. It will keep their children fed and clothed.

It is also vital to the millions of American workers who remain employed, but are plagued by fear that they too will lose their job. Previous extensions of unemployment insurance benefits have played an under-appreciated role in helping us avoid even greater economic collapse. There are businesses still open, neighborhoods still filled with families instead of foreclosed homes, wheels of commerce still turning because of the economic fuel these extensions have provided. This extension, too, means help not just for those facing a loss of benefits, but for entire communities.

I am also pleased that this legislation extends the homebuyer tax credit which had been set to expire on November 30, 2009. This credit, which has helped pull the real-estate market from the depths of decline, will now be available until April 30, 2010. This legislation expands eligible recipients to tax payers who have owned their homes for more than 5 years. The credit will also provide additional relief to members of the military by eliminating the recapture requirement of the credit if they are forced to sell their home as a result of an official extension of duty.

So I am glad that we are ready to approve this legislation. I wish it had come sooner. During the debate and delay here in Washington, 7,000 unemployed Americans each day saw their unemployment benefits expire. By mid-October, 44,000 Michigan workers had exhausted their benefits, and that number will more than double by the end of the year if we do not act. The anxiety caused by our delays has been a tremendous hardship for families facing the loss of their benefits – hardship made painfully clear by the calls and letters to my office from Michiganders desperate for any word on when Congress would act.

For a family battered by the loss of a job, fearing the loss of a home, wondering if life will ever be the same, facing such uncertainty requires genuine courage to hold onto hope. This extension of unemployment benefits is one important way we can help alleviate fear and help preserve that hope that is essential to persevere until times get better.

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