Mr. President, I am pleased to support the Senate's bipartisan legislation designed to stimulate the economy and benefit working families, assist seniors and veterans, provide some relief for the unemployed, and encourage business and energy investments. I know that there are numerous families throughout the nation who have found themselves working harder, and having less discretionary income due to increases in living expenses such as gasoline and food costs. In my home state of Hawaii, where the cost of living is already high, especially due to housing, families are struggling. They, like the rest of the nation, have been hit hard by the decline in the economy. While Hawaii's unemployment is not as high as in other parts of the nation, it is not uncommon for individuals in Hawaii to work two or three jobs just to provide their families with food and shelter and to have multiple generations living under the same roof in order to save money.
One of the key provisions of the Senate's economic stimulus package is to put money in the hands of low-income and middle-class individuals and families by offering a rebate of $500 per individual and $1000 per couple, plus $300 for every child under the age of 17. For the many families in this nation struggling to make ends meet, these rebates will help ease the financial pressures that they are currently facing. Far too often, due to the downturn in our nation's economy, families are finding that they simply cannot afford important, basic needs. Consequently, they are forced to make very difficult decisions and even more difficult sacrifices. More and more Americans are relying on high interest credit cards, not to buy luxuries but just to provide daily necessities. The rebates included in the Senate package will help families pay down those bills and provide much needed financial relief.
The Senate Finance Committee's package also improves upon the House-passed bill by extending these rebates to senior citizens and disabled veterans. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, I am strongly supportive of provisions in this bill that improve the House version of the bill by including hundreds of thousands of disabled vets in the stimulus package. It is vitally important that we ensure that our nation's wounded warriors and their families who have sacrificed so much are given the assistance they need. I am pleased to support the extension of benefits in the Senate Finance bill to twenty million senior citizens living on Social Security. For many low-income senior citizens, whose sole income is their monthly social security check, a rebate check could provide much needed relief in addition to providing further stimulus to the country's economy.
In addition to the rebates included in the Finance Committee package, another important provision is the extension of unemployment benefits. I know that for many workers who have found themselves out of jobs due to lay-offs or business failures, unemployment benefits provide a much-needed bridge to get them over the immediate economic financial crises until they can find employment. Providing an additional thirteen weeks of unemployment benefits for individuals who have been caught in the economic downturn, and another thirteen weeks of benefits for workers in states with high rates of unemployment, will go a long way toward providing the support they need as the look for new jobs in this difficult economic environment.
I am also supportive of provisions in the Senate economic stimulus package that will encourage businesses to invest. Increasing the carry-back period for net operating losses from two to five years, for example, will benefit the housing industry by allowing builders to avoid selling land and houses at greatly reduced prices and enable less costly financing. In addition, provisions to extend renewable energy and energy efficiency tax cuts for a year will help boost the economy by generating new employment opportunities. Given the growing demand for energy coupled with rising prices, it is critical to America's economy that we provide incentives to invest in clean energy production.
As the Senate considers this bill, I will continue to work to ensure that the economic stimulus package passed by Congress is structured to help hardworking men and women who find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. We must see that a broad segment of the population, including the unemployed, senior citizens, and disabled veterans, receives assistance and that business and environmental investment is encouraged. I ask my Senate colleagues to join me in supporting the Senate version of the economic stimulus package.
Thank you, Mr. President.
