Unemployment funds stopped three weeks ago. She is a single mother who is caring for her daughter and received no child support. She has no family to rely upon and she is not eligible nor seeking welfare. All of the 1 2ians i have met with have had their Unemployment Insurance lapse and they are scrambling to make ends meet. No one, none of them, wants to live on Unemployment Insurance forever. In fact, they all said, by a person, that they wanted to go to work. Some of them were in training and were using unemployment as a bridge. Others go to the work forest Connections Office on a regular basis, every week, looking for jobs to apply for. And none of them are lazy, mr. Speaker. When Unemployment Insurance expires, it doesnt just mean that those struggling to find work wont be able to put food on the table or pay the rent. It means money thats pump intod our local economy will also be lost. And thats a serious drag on the economy. So if you dont want to listen to me talk about the people who are affected by the behind the 1. 3 million who are losing their Unemployment Insurance, the 20,000 nevadans, then maybe youll care that this is a trag on the economy and do the right thing by extending the Unemployment Insurance. Overall, failing to renew the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program will cost the economy 200,000 jobs this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, including 3,000 jobs in my home state of nevada. The expiration of federal Unemployment Insurance at the end of last week is already taking more than 400 million out of the pockets of american job seekers nationwide and in local and state economies. In nevada, the total economic benefit lost during the first week of the insurance expiring was 5. 4 million. For every 1 spent on Unemployment Insurance, it grows 1. 52. Omy by according to mark zandy, chief economist at moodys analytics. So theres some 17,600 unemployed workers in nevada who have lost their Unemployment Benefits because this congress failed to do its job in december when we had an opportunity to do it. I urge the speaker, along with 170 of my colleagues, to not adjourn, to not go on recess, until we completed the work of extending the Unemployment Insurance but that request was not acted upon. And so were here. And as my colleagues have said, there are things, there are solutions that we can do to extend the Unemployment Insurance. If you want to offset it, if you want to have payfors, id like to offer a couple of suggestions on how to pay for it. In order to offset funding for Unemployment Insurance, congress could close a number of Corporate Tax loopholes such as eliminating tax incentives for companies to move jobs overseas. Why is it that we continue to incentivize major corporations based on u. S. Tax policy for shipping jobs overseas when we have americans who are desperate for work right here . Why should big c. E. O. s get corporate bonuses at the end of the year for sending our jobs to other countries when the people in our own neighborhoods could be performing that work. The United States loses an estimated 150 billion annually to tax avoidance schemes involving tax havens. Many of many of our largest and most profitable corporations pay absolutely no federal taxes at all in 2011. So congress could also find revenue by placing caps on commodity payments or eliminating or reducing subsidies to mega farms in the farm bill thats currently negotiated. So if for whatever reason, my colleagues on the other side think that its the constituents that i talked about who get 300 or 400 a week who are the problem with the federal budget, that theyre the problem, the reason we have a federal deficit, then i would urge you to consider these payfors. Lets end the tax corporate subsidies, lets end the policies that shift our jobs jeaver see overseas and lets start investing in america and americans again. There are reasonable solutions. But that means we have to come together to get it done. We cant let rigid ideology trump the practical need to help those in need. I want to yield back my time. I thank my colleagues i thank my colleagues mr. Garamendi and mr. Tonko for being here tonight and im hopeful that the senate under the leadership of Senate Majority leader harry reid and my u. S. Senator republican dean heller who is a cosponsor on the Unemployment Insurance bill to extend it for three monthings three months. Theyre working in the senate to reach a deal. I hope that the speaker and my colleagues in the house will take it up and vote on it so none of our neighbors go without Unemployment Insurance to provide for thems and their families. Mr. Garamendi mr. Horsford, thank you for bringing us the message from nevada, the message of compassion and the message of hope and the challenge that we face. This house is fortunate, as are the constituent who was elected you, to have your voice heard on the floor and heard across america. Over the last three years, my colleague from new york and i have talked about jobs, talked about making it in america, and talked about this problem of unemployment. So joining me now is paul tonko from the great state of new york. Mr. Tonko thank you, representative garamendi for leading us in this discussion for an hour of focus on solutions that are possible out there, within our grasp, easily within our grasp, and as you and the gentleman from nevada, representative horsford, have very hted, with very, strong context placed in terms of the human impact here and the great compassion with which you spoke, i couldnt help but think that were challenged in this given moment by a very daunting series of questions. A couple, most notably, do we reject our history . Or do we respect our history . Our history, replete with success stories. Perhaps in some of our darkest, deepest, painful hours, should inspire and direct and challenge us. Guide us in a way that enables us to embrace the progress i voices of the past and use that in instructive measure to move forward with the socially correct thing to be done so as to respond to those needs of the many, the bulk of the middle Income Community, that beckons us to be there and to be there in sensitive measure. Do we respect that history . Representative garamendi shared the words of president franklin roosevelt. Are we willing to add to those who have plenty . We were challenged by president johnson in his message addressing the war on poverty. Today, as all these statistics were exchanged by my two colleagues, i couldnt help but recall the facts that we are reaching some of the greatest measures of productivity in our business community, in our industrial settings today. Where is the sharing of success . Where is the sharing with the middle Income Community, the workers who have produced that sort of productivity. So let me understand this, the growth of the top 1 , the top income strata of our society, has been exponentially strong. All while weve seen a diminishing of the growth, the potential growth of our middle Income Community. Or a flatlining. All while weve been most productive in our industrial and business settings. Where is the Economic Justice . Where is the sharing that allows for us to enhance that purchasing power of the middle Income Community . Thats the economic engine of this nation. And so as we are faced with these statistics, as we are challenged with these economic times, in the postrecession recovery, the moral compass should guide us, if not our history replete with success stories. Do we respect our history . Or do we reject our history . I would suggest those progressive voices of the past that led us through our darkest hours envisioned an outcome that strengthened everyone in the equation, not playing toward favorites, because in my opinion , catering to a small percentage of the population is a dangerous outcome for them. In order to succeed, in order to continue to grow and survive, you need to have that strong purchasing power. We know, we know from statistics, we know from past history, that we should be guided by those Economic Reforms that enabled social and Economic Justice to take hold. I look at the impact in new york state. 127,000 people affected in the 20th when i look at the 20th Congressional District. In all of the stats. The numbers swell from 127,000 to another series of 133,000 that will be affected. And as has been stated earlier tonight, some economic andequences of 400 million 200,000 jobs lost. Are we willing to endure that imply by our lack of professionalism here . A willingness a willingness to walk past those who are, through no fault of their own, unemployed. While three people pursue the one available job, three people pursue for every one available job, that statist exalso is accompanied by the requirement that you must actively pursue employment. Its part of the program. I was visited today, representative garamendi, by Vice President biden in the 20th Congressional District. He and our governor, governor andrew quo moe and our state leadership andrew cuomo, and the tate leadership, and Senate Majority leader, all of whom have shown an interest in infrastructure, all gathered today in new york in the 20th Congressional District, specifically at albany, oyou are state capital, and it was albany, our state capital. It was about Superstorm Sandy and Superstorms Irene and lee, that in 2011 for irene and lee, and 2013 with Superstorm Sandy, devastated various regions of new york state. And yes, we need to rebuild but you need to do that intelligently. You need to do it with an order of academics and certainly with a Strategic Planning that accompanied all that effort. Thats effective, efficient, smart government. And the Vice President spoke to the wisdom of investing in infrastructure because commerce requires it. Across this great nation, talk to the midland of america. Without the appropriate infrastructure they cant send forth their agriculture products, or their manufactured goods. They cannot ship forward and so commerce is crippled by our lack of investment in infrastructure. And so with great sensitivity, the Vice President spoke, spoke to the infrastructure needs of new york and that we will utilize these efforts with the guidance of new york state, with the governor and the legislature, to make certain that its not merely replacing infrastructure damaged by the ravaging of Mother Nature but rather restructuring and reorganizing how we respond to that. Much of our infrastructure, our manufacturing infrastructure are long waters edge, along intradeleft coastal systems. We extended our land into the coastal system and now Mother Nature is saying, whoa, push back. But that urgency that came with those storms has us now struggling with infrastructure investment. Is that what we require to invest in sfrarbg . In ed go forward and made in order of investment, not spending, but investing, where reasonable expectation, justified expectation of a return on those hardearned tax dollars is there. And we will see that with the infrastructure improvements. So much can be done. Ill close with this not close with this but take a break, as they say, i will yield to the gentleman from california with making this statement. You captain have it both ways. You cant deny all these legislative bills that are advanced through the congress or initiated by members of the house, that would speak to job growth. The president has sent forward on behalf of the administration, a number of bills that would grow our economy, enhance job growth. You cant reject that agenda and then not reauthorize the Unemployment Insurance benefit package. If you are going to do that, not reauthorize, you need to do the jobs package. But to reject both, to reject the jobs packages, the legislation that would grow that climate, and also reject the reauthorization of Unemployment Insurance, reject minimum wage, reject the snap programs, thats harsh. That is not being guided by a moral compass. And that is not america at her best. So i would implore with my colleagues on this floor this evening, as representative garamendi and representative horsford, i would implore the leadership of this house that to pursue that agenda that speaks to Economic Justice and responds with measures to those who are unemployed through no fault of their own, who are actively searching for employment. We need those jobtraining programs and assistance programs so as to maintain the economic comeback from the recession and with that, i yield back top representative garamendi from the great state of california. Mr. Garamendi we have 10, 12 minutes here. Lets do one of those back and forth real fast. Im going to go through these very quickly. This is our part of our job agenda, make it in america agenda. Trade policies and dealing with one of those. Representative horsford talked about tax policy, critically important. Energy policy, which we have not come to tonight. Labor issues, we have talked about the minimum wage, equally important. Minimum dollars in 1978, ronald reagan, was 10. 60. Ame purchasing power is 7. 25. Education, we talked about not a little bit, mr. Horsford, you talked a great deal about the reeducation programs. Research, which we havent covered today and the infrastructure issues. And, by the way, the using american taxpayer dollars for all of these things, we ought to be buying americanmade products. We are using american taxpayer dollars. We talked a lot about infrastructure. Every dollar you invest, 1. 57 pumped into the economy. Jobs created. Mr. Horsford, you talked about the unemployment in the building trades. Very important. Those people can go back to work and this can go immediately. And by the way, unless we fund and expand the transportation programs in the United States, ere will be no more new bids for transportation programs. This issue is before the congress today. This one, this is what happens when you dont invest in infrastructure. This is the interstate bridge in washington just near the canadian border. Talk about commerce. Came to a halt. This bridge collapsed, more than a couple of 1,000 bridges in the United States are in similar jeopardy and could collapse, major infrastructure needs to be done. This is my district. I have 1,100 miles of levees, floods, we have a water resource bill in conference. Im fortunate to be in that Conference Committee, and this is what we must do. We must improve our levees and deal with superstorm sandies and make sure we are protecting our citizens. How do we pay for it . Why are we giving karzais government 3 billion. Tell you why we we can spend 3 billion. Mr. Horsford, and well do the quick minutes here. Mr. Horsford i want to accentuate. The need for infrastructure, in my home state of nevada, as you indicate, the lifeline of our primary industry, the gaming and ourmdr Tourism Industry is for people to get to our state to be able to enjoy our entertainment. We have legislation before this congress that would do just that, by helping to build a new interstate between phoenix and las vegas, the two major metropolitan communities in the Intermountain West that dont have a major interstate between them that would help create a corridor between canada and mexico and provide trade and commerce that would grow our economy. Those are the types of investments that we desperately need as well as an investment in our veterans. A third of my population in the 4th Congressional District of nevada are veterans, people who have served our country with ties tinching shon and honor and have come back home and cannot find work and thats why we need to reauthorize the veterans employment and training act, help to provide entrepreneurial and funding for veteran Small Business owners and they can mr. E in an america that garamendi and other members in this body have worked hard. I urge the House Republican leadership. Were serious about solutions for the American People. Didnt come here to be a novote or a yesvote for every piece of legislation. I came here to work with my colleagues to find solutions to complex problems. And one of the biggest problems that we face is that not enough of our friends and neighbors can find work. And the way to address that is to make it in america and to support our agenda. I yield back my time. Mr. Garamendi im delighted that you came here. And i think the people of america as they come to know you will share that delight, your wisdom, your ability to talk about key issues. Thats for joining us. Mr. Tonko. Mr. Tonko thank you, representative garamendi. The infrastructure issues are heavyduty and not just traditional roads and bridges, but airports, rail and subway systems, mass and Public Transit and also communications and energy grid. We have a system that was designed for regional activity with monopolies and we are electrons from state to state. And infrastructure bill could assist in great ways to make that happen. Vice ith the visit by President Biden to albanny, the history of the erie canal was addressed. A huge effort was made, a difficult task to sell an idea in very difficult times, but it was again in those difficult times that we had those shining moments and what we did was create out of a small town, a huge port. We developed the new york city that we know today as a robust area, metro area, and the corresponding result, a neck lace of communities that became the epicenters of innovation that allowed for a manufacturing boom to take hold and what when we address quality of life to people not just in new york but in this country, we affected the quality of people around the world. And oftentimes, oftentimes that growth, that innovation came from Blue Collar Workers who gave it their wall and suggested to management, here is a new idea and something we can produce to something. And what strikes many my mind is the need to invest in r d, research dollars, taking that innovation, intellectual capacity of this nation, taking all of that brain power we developed through higher eled investment and putting it to work and allowing us to grow our Energy Independence by innovation, by producing Energy Supplies here as American Power and delivering in more effective, efficient ways, where there isnt line loss or perhaps there are grid systems activity that is localized that is close to the source that requires that electricity. Many, many things that we can respond to, if we open ourselves to the innovation, the reform thats essential. And if we attach to that tax reform policy that is so long overdue. It has been a pleasure to join with my colleagues here this evening. And i yield back to the gentleman from california. Mr. Garamendi mr. Tonko, somehow i knew from previous experience on the floor that you were going to mention the erie. Mr. Tonko the Vice President did, too. Mr. Garamendi before the erie canal, there was George Washington that laid out an Economic Growth investment for the United States. He asked hamilton to set out a policy on manufacturing. Part of it was the development of a canal system, in other words, the infrastructure system. In fact, the constitution says there should be post roads in the United States. Much to talk about it. Make it in america. Use our tax dollars to buy americanmade products in trade, taxes, energy, education, research. By the way, two years ago, the president of the United States stood right there in his state of the union and said, here is an american jobs program. You know what he talked about . Every one of these issues. And if this congress had acted, trains, loco motives, 100 american built in sacramento, california and a new contract coming up for even more of these tateoftheart. End of the lightning round. Mr. Horsford creating economic mobility for all americans. When we talk about innovation, job creation, growing the economy, we are talking about growing an economy that works for all americans, for people who are in the middle class, most importantly because they are the engines of our economy, but also those who are striving to be part of the middle class. And assistance for Unemployment Insurance and extending Unemployment Insurance is so important. Its why providing knew trishon assistance programs for families in need are important because they are creators in moving people out of poverty and into the middle class. And its what we are focused on when we talk about making it america. We are not saying make it in america for the top 1 of the wealthiest, the elite. We are focused on those who are the engines that are the backbone who have made America Great and we can do big things if we Work Together as a body to do that. I know thats what my colleagues are aspiring to do. Im proud to join you here tonight and will continue to work with you and anyone from either party who is focused on growing our economy and creating true economic mobility for all americans. Mr. Garamendi mr. Horsford, thanks very much. Mr. Speaker, we appreciate the opportunity to present a true american agenda. I yield back our time. The speaker pro tempore is there a motion to adjourn . Mr. Garamendi i would like a motion for another hour. Not going to happen. Mr. Speaker, i move that we adjourn for the evening. The speaker pro tempore the question is on the motion to adjourn. Those in favor say aye. Those opposed, no. The ayes have it. The motion is adopted. Accordingly the house stands House Republican leaders plan to take up another bill dealing with the health care law. What did house leaders have land later this week . Putting two bills on the floor. One of them would require the department of health and Human Services to notify individuals within two days if they have been subject to a security breach, if their information has somehow been tapped into or unlawfully accessed through the exchanges online. Legislation to be voted on would require the administration to submit the detailed weekly report with andkdowns statebystate all consumer interactions with the website. They are targeting the law, targeting the website. How does this differ from the efforts from the first session of the 113th in the latter parts of the 112 . Whats different . Even though their role timid there is to fully defined Affordable Care act, their new strategy appears to be chipping away at many of the components. It undermines their credibility. Bills to absolutely undermine the credibility. Republicans are convinced that there are security issues, vulnerabilities in the infrastructure of the website. The website is so flawed that individuals cannot sign up for the health care they are entitled to, the new insurance plans. Individuals toe be notified of security breaches. Could get the government every week to show just how many in theare enrolling numbers would come out of the reports. Hat is the help another issue on the floor. Where do things stand on negotiations overspending . They face the deadline so when will they get done with the omnibus spending bill . Collects the expectation they will be able to end by january 15 when fiscal 14 is set to expire, we passed a shortterm spending resolution before we left for the break. The senate is quickly moving ofough all of its portions what they expect to be an omnibus package of all of the appropriations bills. Some of them are consent bills such as the one to find the departments of labor and health and Human Services. The senate is hoping to have something by the end of this weekend in the house, we have less of a sense of where progress is but appropriators meet virtuallyto or in person through the holiday break and they have been speaking regularly with their staff and members of the committee leadership. They seem optimistic that they can get this done even though we know very little so far about what the outstanding issues are handled where the points of contention might rest. You tweeted about Unemployment Insurance and how it could stay on the floor. They move forward with the bill. , is thesses the senate house expected to take up that issue . What else might we see on the house agenda in the rubble of weeks coming up . It is still unknown in the house. House republicans insist they will not take it up unless there is an offset. They say it should not be paid for and does not need to be paid for. They dont have a plan right now, no proposal to pay for it. Seem disinclined to accept anything republicans might suggest to sweeten the deal to make it more palatable to bring it to the floor. Democrats hope that they could be shamed into bringing it to the floor on how they were chained to bring up the violence against women act in relief for Superstorm Sandy. Remains to be seen if the effort will be out all successful in the house. ,ther things be expect to see the clock is ticking on the omnibus. We have to pass a fiveyear farm and the contraries are expected to meet on thursday having one of their only Public Meetings of the Conference Committee to vote on some of the issues there in preparation to reveal a formal finished farm bill, they hope, by the long weekend surrounding Martin Luther king jr. s birthday later this month. That is just some of what we are going to see and some of the issues we are going to see fiercely debated on the floor picked in the weeks ahead. Cq rolldumain from call, inky for the up date. On cspan tonight, a look at congressional action on an extension of Unemployment Benefits. First, a News Conference to move legislation forward. Now remarks by senator Chuck Schumer and members of the senate. Good morning. The United States senate just took a very important step forward in assisting 1. 3 million americans who lost their extended Unemployment Benefits on december 28, and also the millions more that will lose it throughout the course of this year. It theres still a great deal of work to be done, but we have literally changed this debate. Just a few weeks ago there were colleagues who were talking about Unemployment Insurance as a disservice to the american worker. Today we are talking about the vital nature of this program and the need to extend it and now we are also talking about should it be paid for in the long term . Are there other changes that could be made . We made several changes in 2012. So we are moving forward. We have to collaborate. We have to be constructive. But today i think we have given a bit of hope to millions of americans who are struggling in a difficult economy to find jobs, who are struggling to provide sustenance to their families, to pay their heat bill, put some gas in the car, and to keep looking for work. We also understand that this is just providing sort of the immediate assistance people need. The longer term is to create the jobs. To build the economy where this these programs are not as necessary as they are today. I certainly this was a work of great effort that was collaborative and im pleased to be with my colleagues who paid such a critical role, senator schumer, senator a even. Without them this would not have happened. Let me call on senator shaheen from new hampshire. Thank you, senator reed, and thank you for your leadership on this. You and senator heller made this a bipartisan vote. It was very good news to see 60 votes to move forward. Its good not just for the 1. 3 million families who will benefit, but its also going to be good for the economy of the United States. The Congressional Budget Office and numerous economists, including mark zandi, have indicated this is one of the best things we have can do to help keep the money in the economy, keep it stimulated. Its a good way to spend public dollars to encourage private sector response. This is good for families, but its also going to be good for our economy as we know that people who get Unemployment Insurance are going to spend those dollars. They are not going to put them in the bank. As senator reed said, how do we create jobs . This is one of the challenges we have. Making sure that people can still go out and look for work, those dollars can be used to buy gasoline, pay for groceries, pay peoples rent is important because it keeps a lot of other people working in the economy. Its very good news. Serious negotiation vs. To start as we think negotiations have to start as we think about how we get this bill passed. Before i introduce senator brown, i have to personally thank senator dean heller of nevada. He stood up, responding to his constituents and to what he was seeing in his home state, but across the country, and he provided great leadership. He did it with thoughtful persistent advocacy, and we are here today because in large part of his efforts and all of my colleagues on my democratic colleagues, but also my republican colleagues who stepped forward and said lets put it the rhetoric aside for a moment and try to help people. Then do it in a constructive, cooperative way. With that let me recognize sherrod brown. Its 8 degrees below zero in cleveland today. It seems like its almost that cold here and i think this vote today, this bipartisan vote, particularly thanks to senator reed and senator heller, on this bipartisan vote will help those people who have lost jobs. Will heat their homes, help them go to the Grocery Store and buy food. Will help them fix their car at the local with the local car mechanic so they can drive and look for work. This is all about social insurance. Its Unemployment Insurance. People pay into this when they are working and when they have lost their jobs. Its important they get those benefits. And no one gets these benefits without looking for jobs day after day after day. Thats why this is so important. Its also important that we got a strong bipartisan vote out of the senate. I think that means good news for a minimum wage increase down the road. Sooner rather than later. The last time we did minimum wage was 2007. Strong bipartisan vote in both houses. Signed by president bush. Signed by the president of the United States. We hope to replicate that effort in 2014. Its also good news on manufacturing job growth issues we are working on bipartisanly. Just came from a meeting with the manufacturing caucus, a group of members of the senate from both parties who care about job creation and care about manufacturing. Last point id like to briefly make is senator shaheen just mentioned about how this is good for the economy. 100 years ago this week henry ford announced that he was going to pay his workers 5 a day. That was the person sweeping the floor and building the model t. What henry ford understood is what 60 members of the senate understood today and that is when you put money in peoples pockets, they spend it and it grows the economy. Maybe to buy a model t in his day, 100 years ago, but today in means they spend that money locally in Grocery Stores and car mechanic at the hardware store, buying clothes for their kids. Keeping them going, keeping them alive. And means to our economy as a whole. On december 28, 18,000 families in oregon got a lump of coal in their stockings when we failed to reauthorize the emergency unemployment program. Of course this coming year we are going to see another 58,000 oregon families affected. Then we have the broader economy in oregon, thats the thought this action would eliminate about 4,000 jobs. I can tell you that the citizens in oregon want to see us create jobs not destroy jobs. And so in this case we have a winwin for the families themselves, a stronger foundation, or a stronger bridge to the next job in areas of high unemployment and something that is helping the broader economy at the same time. This was a Bipartisan Program developed under president bush. Today, this morning, we had a bipartisan vote to debate the bill. And now we have to make sure we have a bipartisan support to actually reauthorize this program and take those lumps of coal out of the stockings. This weekend i was doing town halls in oregon, and four were in rural areas. Theres higher unemployment in rural areas across america. The average unemployment in oregon is now about 7. 3 . But in three counties its almost 12 . So the time it takes to get another job is much longer. Thats true in high unemployment states and thats true across the country. So huge logic and huge impact on families. But lets understand theres a fundamental viewpoint here. When families are down, are they going to get a helping hand in the bridge to the next job . Are they going to get kicked while they are down . I think the helping hand, bipartisan helping hand is what we have to develop and get re authorized with due speed. Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank my colleagues, senator reed and senator heller for their leadership, and my colleague, senator Shaheen Brown and merkley, for working so hard on this issue. Today brought us a glimmer of hope. Its good news in two ways. The first is it doesnt close the door on actually getting this bill passed. It allows us to sit down and negotiate. Ill talk more about that in a sec. The second is it shows that the big plates, tech tonic plates in our politics are moving. The issues that dominated the first five years of the president s term, the deficit and obamacare, are becoming less important than helping the average American People get by as job growth isnt as robust as wed like it, and as middle class incomes this decade have declined for the first time in american history. And had they if our colleagues second point. We hope that this is a good faith negotiation. The offer that senator mcconnell made to the senate is obviously a nonstarter. I hope, we hope, some of us fear, that our republican colleagues, while they know the power of this issue, do not want to pass it and will put some obstacles in the way that will prevent the bill from passing. Clearly the amendment posed by senator mcconnell was not going to was not going to pass. We dont want a mexican standoff, or we put in our pay for and they put in their pay for. Coy think of one that makes more sense and more relevant than senator mcconnells. Take away the tax break for companies that ship jobs overseas. That would reduce unemployment and eventually lower the cost of Unemployment Insurance. I think we would have every democrat vote for that. But i suppose that would be a nonstarter for republican colleagues in the senate and house. The fundamental question is, are they going through a charade to show they really, really want a bill but they just cant come to an agreement and there are two different versions . Or can we have serious negotiations and get something done . And we hope its the latter. We hope its the latter. If our republican colleagues continue to play games with this, theyll show how far out of the mainstream they are. As was mentioned by senator merkley, the original framework here was passed by george bush, a conservative republican president , when unemployment was 5. 6 . Its now 7 . Even Unemployment Benefits for people who have worked 10, 20, 30 years at one job, lost their job, and then they are spending every day going online or knocking on doors and trying to find a job and they cant . Certainly we didnt hear the theory of the hard right or what rand paul said that Unemployment Benefits are a disservice to our workers. This idea people dont want to work. Is fundamentally misleading the american character. Americans do want to work. And theres satisfaction in job welldone for c. E. O. s and people who make sure the floors are really spotlessly clean late at night in the hospital. So we hope that the vote today indicates that your republican colleagues will negotiate in good faith. We are open to such negotiations. We believe it would be, i believe, i think most of my colleagues believe it would be better to pass unpaid for, if we cant come to an agreement or even if we could because it stimulates the economy. We want to get this bill passed. Its too important, too important for the average American Family not to. The negotiate that these negotiations are going to be offsetting i would prefer to pass this 90day extension so that we could assure millions of americans they are going to get their benefits without disruption. My preference, frankly, and i think senator schumer said the same thing, because we want to also grow jobs as well as take care of unemployed that typically this is emergency spending which is not offset. Last year, the beginning of 2013, we passed with overwhelming republican support a oneyear extension of Unemployment Benefits that were not paid for. This notion of selectively saying the key issues must be paid for, must be paid for, thats not the case. Most times we have paid for these benefits. I think we are going through these negotiations saying, you know, our reference is clearly we want to get this thing done quickly. This 90day extension. For a yearlong extension, if you have thoughtful ways to deal with it, and senator schumer suggested one, there are many others, we understand. We have to have a another bipartisan effort to get this measure finally passed. But from strictly the economic sense, strictly from history, the last number of times we have done this, in fact most recently in 2013, january, 2013, these benefits werent paid for. Best choice, pass it, no strings attached, get it done, get it done quickly. Second best choice, finding a reasonable payfor that can work on both sides of the aisle. I would caution people thats a lot easier said than done. Again as i said im worried that we may be being somewhat walked into cul de sac by our colleagues who dont have an intention of doing that. Thats a possibility. Worst choice, you just have competing payfors and we dont get this done. It hurts our economy and workers. It can you give us the an example of whats a reasonable payfor . Senator schumer suggested some of these tax provisions that actually not only deprive the government of revenue, but also help deploy jobs overseas when we need jobs here. But there are a whole list of tax loopholes, and other things we could consider. I want to foreclose discussions. I think at this point, particularly, having secured a very positive bipartisan vote, getting us on to the measure, that we want to go forward in good faith and good spirit. And not include, exclude, etc. , but just simply say we are willing to listen. As senator schumer cautioned, we have to have something that makes sense for the economy, makes sense for the people. And something that we can generally support. I hope my republican colleagues approach it the same way. Anyone else . Surprised by the vote today . It was in the balance until the very last moment. I was hopeful, but i guess being irish im always expecting the worst. Yeah, i was surprised. That might be more a cultural than political. I think we are all not being irish, i think we all are a bit surprised. I think pope francis exorted his parish priests to go out and smell like the flock. I think that on a vote like this i think members of the senate are increasingly hearing from their constituents. A number of our colleagues did events during the holidays in the last two weeks, and if they were out in public, they were hearing from people whose Unemployment Benefits expired. Theres 50,000 in my state, a large state, not the largest. It was thousands everywhere in this country. I think that not only is that good news for the Unemployment Insurance vote, i think thats good news for engage, good news for manufacturing, for really focusing on jobs. I think more and more of my colleagues are hearing that. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] and in senate managed to get the 60 votes needed to move forward . It was a little bit of a surprise. Democrats were were read they would be a vote or two short of ultimately six republicans including senator rob portman of ohio, senator Susan Collins of maine, and four others did a vote along with all of the democrats voting to advance this. It still has a long way to go. At least two more senate votes and some of the republicans who voted for this procedural vote said that they would need offsetting spending cuts to pay for these cost of about three months before they would vote for the final passage or potentially the final cloture vote which would involve 60 as well. The president called this a bipartisan bill pointing out dean hellers support. Where will his allegiances fall when the vote comes later this week likely . Where will the president s . Senator hellers allegiances. This bill as of right now is unpaid for. First republican to get on board was senator jack reed of rhode island on a three month extension. The Unemployment Rate in nevada is so high and that was one reason for his support. Senatethrough both the and house, Speaker John Boehner has already said it needs to be paid for. Right now, over the next few days they will be entering into negotiations and what kind of cuts to make elsewhere i would pay for this bill. Potentially, they want to extend it for a full year. This threemonth extension was meant to buy time. It may include some reforms to the program. So well see if it stays in that threemonth window or if they try to broaden it out to a one year extension. Is it possible this bill could be attached to something bigger . An omnibus spending bill, the farm bill . Its possible. In the past Unemployment Insurance extensions have been attached to other bills. We are working to finish up, as you mentioned, the farm bill, and theres been some talk on the democratic side of the aisle, at least in the house, of using the savings from the farm bill with cuts to food stamp and farm subsidies, to pay for the Unemployment Benefits because that money watches up pretty well. It would cost about 26 billion to extend emergency Unemployment Insurance for the full year. That is a possibility. Its also the other bill that you mentioned that is definitely a vehicle thats going to move forward, probably in the next few weeks, is that omnibus spending bill. It could be attached to one or the other. If its attached to the farm bill it would likely be combined some of the money from the farm bill would be used. The arctic many you write for thehill. Com, the democrats hoping to change the conversation in 2014 away from the discussion on the Health Care Reform law. How, in addition to this bill, might they try to do that . They are going to focus on the topic of the moment, income inequality. The president has been talking about this in various forms since his election and even before that. Its gotten a lot of attention from the mayor of new york city, liberal democrats have been focusing on this. The push to extend Unemployment Insurance and also to raise the minimum wage is all part of that. You can expect to see the president and Congressional Democrats talking as he has in the state of the Union Address later this month about other issues, most notably a push to increase the minimum wage, which is really an uphill battle with republicans controlling the house. Republicans have long been opposed, most of them, to raising the minimum wage saying it would hurt job creation, especially among Small Businesses. Its going to be a tough battle for democrats. It is going to be a tough battle. That is how it is going to be framed. Thank you for the update. Thank you. They were senators dean codes of nevada, inner remarks from Mitch Mcconnell are here are marked Mitch Mcconnell on the legislation. We have seen past over the pt several days weve seen a number of stories about how democrats plan to spend the year gearing up for november elections by making an issue out of economic hardships faced by americans. In other words, instead of working on reforms that would actually help people overcome the challenges so many of them face they were trying to exploit those folks for political gain. It is amazing when you think about it. Were now in the sixth year sixth year of the obama administration. We all know the stock markets been doing great, so the richest among us are doing just fine. But what about the poor . What about working class folks . What about folks that work in industries that liberals dont approve of, like coal . How many of these americans have been doing well during the obama economy . Record numbers of them are having a perfectly terrible time. One indicator is the growth of the food stamp program. Consider this. Since the president took office, the number of americans who signed up for food stamp ps has literally skyrocketed. Corroboratinged. It is up skyrocketed. It is up almost half. Nearly four out of ten americans are literally trapped in long term unemployment. Whats worse, the poorest americans are the ones who have had a hard time recovering in this economy. Yes, the president took office in the midst of an economic crisis. No one disputes that. But for Many Americans, a terrible situation seems to have only gotten worse over the course of this administration. So for the president to turn around and try to blame his political opponents for the suffering weve seen out there, that takes a pretty good amount of nerve. It also sends a collective case of National Amnesia. It would take a collective case of National Amnesia to reach those conclusions. Because remember, these are the same folks who gave us the stimulus, who gave us tax increases, who gave us obamacare. All of it was done in the name of helping the little guy. In the name of greater equality. So what theyve given us, its given us this mess that we have in our country . Record numbers of longterm unemployed. Record numbers on food stamp ps, people losing their health care plans, others seeing premiums shoot up when they can least afford it. And now another call, one more call for a government fix. Washington democrats have shown almost no interest for five years in working together on ways to create the kind of good, stable, highpaying jobs that people really want and need. This is a real disservice. First and foremost to those who are struggling the most out there, from the College Graduate who suddenly finds herself wondering why shes got huge student loan debts but no prospects of work to the 50yearold dad whos worked his whole adult life and suddenly cant find a job that meets either his needs or his potential. And yet, this administrations proposed solution is just to slap another bandaid from washington on it and call it a day. Yes, we should work on solutions to support those who are out of work through no fault of their own. But theres literally no excuse to pass Unemployment Insurance legislation without also finding ways to create good, stable, highpaying jobs and also trying to find the money to pay for it. What im saying is lets support meaningful job creation measures and lets find a way to pay for these u. I. Benefits so were not adding to an already completely unsustainable debt. Unfortunately, the administration seems almost totally disinterested in solutions that dont put government in the lead, and it seems nearly incapable of working with those who dont share that belief. And that in many ways is precisely why were in the situation were in. Because its only when you believe government is the answer to all of your problems that you talk about Unemployment Insurance instead of job creation. And the minimum wage instead of helping people reach their maximum potential. So its time to get away from quote temporary Government Programs and give the American People the tools they need to drive an economy that truly works for them and for their families. We could start with one of the real bright spots in our economy, and thats energy. A field thats poised to help our economy create literally millions of jobs if only the administration would get out of the way. Another area where we should be able to Work Together is health care. By almost any metric, affordability, accessibility, even the ratio of cancellations to enrollments, this law has imposed more pain and more distress than many had ever thought possible. Centrists, moderates, conservatives, just about any sensible person outside the congressional democratic leadership here in washington has long understood this. But now even the left is starting to come to grips with the painfully obvious fact that the law that it fell in love with cant possibly work. Last week one of the great ones of the left admitted that obamacare is awful, direct quote. Calling it quote the dirty little secret many liberals avoided saying out loud. I dont agree with this man on much else including his ideas on health care but it is good to hear him to at least admit this is not working. The president s amen chorus had ample opportunity to speak truth to power when it mattered. And at most, most, chose to remain silent. For that, the laws apologists left the American People to pay the price. Let me rea let me read you part of a letter from a constituent of mine in hopkinsville. This ithis is what she. I have less coverage dhain b i didnt get to keep my policy that i was happy with. I. Every dollar i have to pay more is a dollar taken from my family. I never thought that in america we would be forced to purchase something we cannot afford. We worked hard to get where we are. Now were being forced to pay more in order to pay for somebody elses insurance. How is that fair . I hear you, jennifer. Everyone on this side of the aisle hears those concerns. Heres something else. Many kentuckians are finding that obamacare is about more than just higher premiums and cuts to medicare. Its also about a lack of access to doctors and hospitals. One of the most leftwing papers in my state recently ran a big story about how many obamacare Coverage Networks exclude exclude so many of the hospitals my constituents want to use. A few weeks ago the majority leader basically said the criticisms of obamacare amounted to jokes. Well, he might like to think this is all some joke, but the constituents whove been writing me about the consequences of this failed law dont see it that way. I know this must weigh heavily on our democratic colleagues. I know they cant see so Many Americans hurting because of decisions they made and feel absolutely nothing. Let me say that to our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. Its a new year, a time for new beginnings. So if youre ready to work with us, were here. Together we can start over on health care. Together we can give the American People the kind of Health Reform they really deserve, reform that can lower costs and improve the quality of care. But just like with solving the problems of joblessness and unemployment, its something we can only do together. Mr. President , i yield the floor. Perspective,health ways and means ranking democrat senator levin is john maynard to pass an extension now. He wanted the house to pass the bill under consideration in the senate which would extend the expired Unemployment Insurance for three months without an onset. And work for a larger longer Term Solution that could include an offset. House republicans do not appear to be willing to consider that. Speaker boehner said that he told the white house that he would be happy to discuss a plan where benefits are paid for and include something tell people be put back to work. Here is president obama now after the senate vote. He is introduced by woman who is unemployed. [applause] thank you. Good morning. My name is Catherine Hackett and im from connecticut. Im very grateful that president obama invited me here today in response to a letter i wrote to him about the discontinuation of federal Unemployment Insurance. I am unemployed and i will be significantly affected by the decision. Job loss is devastating and im working very hard every day to look for a position. In the interim, Unemployment Benefits have been absolutely essential to cover my bare necessities. I have cut expenses everywhere possible and im not just sitting home enjoying the good life. My cuts include heating my health to 58 degrees, wearing a hat and a coat to stay warm because oil is expensive, i have lost weight is food is expensive. As a single mother, i have worked many different jobs and never asked for a handout while i raise two wonderful boys. Both of my sons are serving in the u. S. Military. It was very hard for me to let one of my boys serve a year in afghanistan, but i did and he was route to serve his country. I hope our leaders in washington can find a solution to help families like mine. At this time, it is my great honor to introduce the president of the United States, president barack obama. [applause] everybody, have a seat. Happy new year, everybody. I hope you are keeping warm. A few weeks ago, i said 2014 could be a breakthrough year for america. Think about it. Five years ago, this month, our economy was shedding 800,000 jobs in one month. As americans buckled down and sacrificed, we began to come back. Our business our businesses have created 8 million new jobs. Our Auto Industry has gone from bust to boom, the stock markets are restoring retirement accounts. The promise of Energy Independence is in sight. Health care costs eat up less of our economy. Costs have grown at the slowest rate on record. We have cut our deficits by more than half since i took office. America is getting stronger and we have made progress trade the economy is growing and we have to do more to make sure all americans share in that. We have to help as this is create more jobs and make sure those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let families rebuild a little security. In other words, we had to make sure this recovery leaves nobody behind. We have a lot of work to do on that front. The good news is i am optimistic we can do it if we do it together. Before the holidays, both parties compromised on a budget that lists some of the drags that have been on the that lifted some of the dragon the economy from these indiscriminate cuts we call sequester. We may see more stability when it comes to Economic Growth. Im not alone in saying we are all grateful in the new year that we wont have another artist and shutdown hopefully going forward. [applause] that was a good sign. We should build on that progress with what i said should be the first order of business in 2014. That was extending uninsured extending insurance for the unemployed. [applause] the good news is ominous this morning, the senate took a very important step in the right direction. Millions like them who were laid off in the recession through no fault of their own, Unemployment Insurance has been a vital economic lifeline. For a lot of people, the support while they look for a new job, these are not nooks who are not just sitting back waiting for things to happen, they are out there at the lee looking for work. They desperately want work. Although the economy has been growing and we have been adding new jobs, the truth of the matter is the financial crisis was so devastating that there is still a lot of people who are struggling. If we dont provide Unemployment Insurance, it makes it harder to find a job. You heard catherines story. Shes far more eloquent than i could ever be. She wrote me last month to say please let those who think im sitting at home enjoying being unemployed knows i would much rather be working and i had a chance to talk to catherine and i think its pretty clear that is the case. Catherine went on to say i have lied to everything for which i am possibly qualified to no avail. I work hard all my life, paid taxes, voted, engaged in political discussion, and made the ultimate sacrifice my two sons serve in the u. S. Military. Job loss is devastating and if i could fix it myself, i would. I challenge any lawmaker to live without an income. Thats what she says. [applause] its hard. So, when weve got the mom of two of our troops who is working hard out there but is having to wear a coat inside the house, we have a problem. And its one that can be fixed. Devlin smith, watching from california, wrote me about her hunt for a new job. Since she was laid off 13 months ago, she sent out hundreds of resumes, shes volunteered, seasonal work. She doesnt want to be sitting around the house. Shes taking online courses to learn new skills. Without Unemployment Insurance, she wont be able to pay for her car or selfphone, which makes the job hunt that much harder. And she wrote to me and said, ive wanted nothing more than to find a new fulltime job and i dedicated every day to that mission. Im asking you to advocate for me and the millions like me who need our extended Unemployment Benefits to make ends meet. I just want everybody to understand, this is not an abstraction, shes are not statistics. These are your neighbors, friends, family members. It could at some point be any of us. Thats why we set up a system of Unemployment Insurance. The notion was everybody is making a contribution because you dont know when the Business Cycle or an economic crisis might make any of us vulnerable. And this insurance helps keep food on the table while dad is sending out resumes. It helps mom pay the rent while shes learning new skills to earn that new job. That provides that extra set of security so that losing your job doesnt mean you have to lose your house. Where everybody you worked so hard to build for years. We make this promise to our fellow americans who are working hard to get back on their feet because when times get tough, we are not a people who say youre on your own. We are people who believe that we are all in it together. We know there but the grace of god go i. [applause] so thats the values case for this. Thats the moral case for this. But, theres an economic case for it as well. Independent economists have shown extending emergency Unemployment Insurance actually helps the economy. Actually creates new jobs. When folks like katherine have a little more to spend, to turn up the heat in her house or buy a few extra groceries, that means more spending at businesses in their local community, which in turn may inspire that business to hire one more person. Maybe kathy. Thats why in the past both parties have repeatedly put partisanship and ideology aside to offer some security for job seekers with no strings attached. Its been nothing regardless whether democrats or republicans were in the white house. Its been done regardless of whether democrats or republicans controlled congress. And by the way, its done its been done multiple times when the Unemployment Rate was significantly lower than it is today. Whats important to keep in mind also is that the recovery in a big country like the United States is going to be somewhat uneven. So there are some states that have a 2. 5 Unemployment Rate, and there are some places that may still have a 7, 8, 9 Unemployment Rate. People living in those respective states may be working equally hard to find a job, but its going to be harder in some places than others. Now, two weeks ago Congress Went home for the holidays and let this lifeline expire for 1. 3 million americans. If this doesnt get fixed it will hurt about 14 million americans over the course of this year. Five million workers, along with nine million of their family members, their spouses, their kids. Now, i have heard the argument that says extending Unemployment Insurance will somehow hurt the unemployed because it zaps their motivation to get a new job. I really want to i want to go at this for a second. [applause] that really sells the American People short. I meet a lot of people as president of the United States and as candidate for president of the United States and as a u. S. Senator and state senator. I meet a lot of people. And i cant name a time or met an american who would rather have an unemployment check than the pride of having a job. [applause] the longterm unemployed are not lazy. They are not lacking in motivation. They are coping with the aftermath of the worst economic crisis in generations. In some cases they may have a skills mismatch. They may have been doing a certain job for 20 years, suddenly they lose that job, they may be an older worker, may have to get retrained. Its hard. Sometimes employers will discriminate if you have been out of work for a while. They decide, well, we are not sure we want to hire you. We would rather hire somebody who is still working right now. Its hard out there. There are a lot of friends, a lot of our neighbors who have lost their jobs and they are working their tails off every single day trying to find a new job. As the job market keeps getting better, more and more of these folks will find work. But in the meantime, the insurance keeps them from falling off a cliff. It makes sure they can pay their car note to go to that interview. It makes sure they can pay their cell phone bills so that if somebody calls back for an interview they can answer it. And katherine explained this. Katherine in the letter she wrote to me said, that the folks really think that cutting this benefit will make someone hire me . Thats not how employers are thinking. So letting Unemployment Insurance expire for millions of americans is wrong. Congress should make things right. Im very appreciative they are on their way to doing just that thanks to the bipartisan work of two senators. A democrat from rhode island, senator reid, and conservative republican from nevada, senator heller. Despite their political differences they worked together on a plan fix. Unemployment insurance for at least three months temporarily while we figure out a longer Term Solution. This morning a bipartisan majority of senators agreed to allow this commonsense provision to at least move forward in the process. The senates a complicated place so just because they agreed on this vote, all they have agreed to so far is we are going to be able to have a vote on it. They havent actually passed it. So weve got to get this across the finish line without obstruction or delay, and we need the house of representatives to be able to vote for it as well. [no audio] [applause] thats the bottom line. Voting for Unemployment Insurance helps people and creates jobs. And voting against it does not. Congress should pass this bipartisan plan right away and i will sign it right away. And more than one million americans throughout the country will feel a little hope right away. And hope is contagious. [applause] when katherine has a bit more confidence about her situation, when she finds a job, shes going to be able to help somebody down the line, maybe who is also down on their luck. When Congress Passes a bipartisan effort starting here, right at the beginning of the new year, who knows, we might actually get some things done this year. After all the hard work and sacrifice of the past five years to recover and rebuild from the crisis, i think the American People are really looking forward to 2014 as just a little bit of stability. Lets just do the commonsense thing, lets do whats right. We are going to have to see action on the part of congress. And ill be willing to work with them every step of the way. Action to help our businesses create more of the good jobs that a growing middle class requires. Action to restore economic stability, action to open more doors of opportunity for everybody who is willing to work hard and walk through those doors. When i was listening to katherine i was just so struck by her strength and dignity and i think people when they bump into some tough times like katherine, they are not looking for pity, they just want a shot. And they just want to feel as if [applause] they just want to feel as if, you know what, as a part of this country, as a part of their communities, when misfortune shows, all the things that they have done in the past, all the hard work they have done raising children and paying taxes and working hard, that counts for something. That folks arent suddenly just going to dismiss their concerns, but they are going to rally behind them. Thats not too much to ask. Thats who we are as americans. Thats what built this country. [applause] thats what i want the most. Thank you very much, everybody. Lets get to work. Lets get this done. I appreciate it. [applause] coming up on cspan, senator Michalski Murkowski in alaska exporting crude oil. And the Petroleum Institute resident jack gerard talks about the 2014 Energy Production outlook. And later, a look at federal investments and green energy technology. Coming up on the next washington