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STATEMENT OF ELAINE L. CHAO
SECRETARY OF LABOR
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE
UNITED STATES HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
HEARING ON
THE PRESIDENT'S BACK-TO-WORK RELIEF
PACKAGE
OCTOBER 16, 2001
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:
Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you today about President
Bush's Back-to-Work Relief Package, and a special thanks to Chairman Boehner,
Congressman Johnson and Congressman McKeon for introducing the Back to Work Act
in the House last week.
The President and his administration are dedicated to providing swift
and compassionate assistance to dislocated workers and their families,
following the terrorist attacks against our country on September 11th.
What we have learned since that terrible, tragic day is just how great a
country America is.
We have seen it in the heroism of firefighters and police officers.
We've seen it in the overflowing generosity of American citizens to volunteer
relief agencies. And we've also seen it in the rapid, coordinated response of
our government at every level.
It's important to note that most of what the government has been doing
since September 11th - in caring for those who have lost jobs and livelihoods -
flows out of programs that have been in effect for years, designed just for
times like these.
Over the years, our government has created a strong safety net for
families at risk. And today, the Bush Administration is making sure that this
net is catching as many of those who need help as possible.
USDA is offering food stamps as a bridge for struggling families. Social
Security provides cash benefits for widows. FEMA administers disaster housing
assistance and crisis counseling services. And even the IRS - not usually noted
for its compassion - provides tax refunds for casualty losses.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is working with lenders
to make sure that families affected by the attacks won't lose their home or
ruin their credit rating just because they can't pay the mortgage for a few
months.
The Small Business Administration has dispersed nearly a million dollars
in low-interest loans since September 11th, as part of its disaster loan
program.
All this assistance - totaling billions of dollars - is proof that our
government will not neglect those who need help in a time of crisis.
But this Administration is committed to going even further than current
programs allow, to help families, industries and regions that have been
hardest-hit by the terrorist attacks and their aftermath.
As President Bush has said: "One person laid off is one person too
many." That's why he has offered a plan to massively build up our Department's
programs helping dislocated workers.
I often say that we are the Department of Compassion for workers in
need.
In the President's 2002 budget, we invest nearly $6 billion in helping
workers - such as job placement counseling, training for a new career and even
relocation expenses. Most of this help is provided through state-level agencies
that are closest to the workers.
The Department oversees a national network of One-Stop Career Centers,
where unemployed workers can register for benefits, find out who is hiring, and
learn how to start their own business.
By calling our toll-free number, 1-877-US-2-JOBS, workers can find the
location of the One-Stop Center closest to them.
When people lose their jobs suddenly - because of a plant closing or a
disaster - we offer emergency grants to states to help pay for training and
career counseling.
The Department also helps manage the nation's unemployment insurance
system, funded at $88 billion, offering reemployment services and a steady
income to workers and their families.
Helping workers in crisis is what the Department of Labor does. Getting
them back to work is our job.
Before anyone started talking about how to help dislocated workers, the
Department was already on the job. Barely 10 days after the attack on the World
Trade Center, we recommended - and the President approved - a $25 million
emergency grant for dislocated workers in New York.
We also sent New York $3.5 million to help them hire extra people and
buy computers to handle unemployment insurance claims.
Three weeks ago, we distributed $100 million from the federal
unemployment account to help states provide reemployment services to laid-off
workers.
I have been to Ground Zero and the Department is helping in other ways
as well:
- OSHA is providing safety expertise and asbestos monitoring to help
rescuers and those who returned to work nearby.
- Our Office of Worker Compensation Programs (OFWCP) is expediting
benefits payments for the survivors of federal employees who were killed - and
for injured federal employees as well.
- The Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) is reaching
out to employers inside the disaster areas, offering them extensions on form
filings and ensuring that benefits plans are safe.
- The Office of the Inspector General is helping the F.B.I. with rescue
and recovery efforts and sending its Critical Incident Response team - a group
of agents who are specially trained to assist people who have suffered
traumatic events.
- We're helping outside of New York and Virginia as well. For example,
our regional office in Atlanta is setting up an emergency One-Stop Center in
the city, to help people who are losing jobs in the airline industry.
I say all this not to impress the Committee with how much work we have
done thus far, but to point out how much can be done through current
Department of Labor programs.
The bipartisan Workforce Investment Act, which this Committee helped
pass in 1998, gives us a flexible and vigorous framework to help workers - and
we need to use it.
That is the strength of the President's proposal: rather than
creating new programs that may take years to get up-and-running, we take the
current structure and turbo-charge it for the crisis we face right now.
We automatically extend unemployment benefits to states hit hardest by
the September 11th attacks - and we pay for it with 100% federal money, instead
of the usual 50-50 split with the states.
This will immediately cover New York and Virginia, and also other states
where the unemployment rate rises 30 percent above the pre-September 11th
level. In these states, dislocated workers will have nine months of
compensation in which to find long-term employment.
We also massively expand our National Emergency Grant program by $3
billion -
- These cash payments can be used by workers to pay for their
healthcare insurance premiums so they can keep their health benefits during
these trying times;
- It will pay for training programs that lead to new jobs;
- It will extend financial assistance to low-income workers who may
not qualify for unemployment insurance coverage.
This is a proven program and the state departments of labor know how to
access it quickly. All a governor would need to do is apply, and certify that
the attacks of September 11th contributed importantly to layoffs or
dislocations in his or her state.
Instead of Washington dictating how these funds should be spent,
governors would have the flexibility to decide what needs were most pressing
for workers in their states:
- They could use this money to pay 75% of workers' COBRA premiums for
up to ten months.
- They could add on an additional 13 weeks of unemployment insurance
to the already existing 26 weeks, if their state didn't qualify for extended
benefits under the President's plan.
- They could pay for training programs for workers, pick up their
child-care costs, and pay for relocation expenses when they find a new job.
We believe that the President's plan fulfills every expectation we
should have of a strong and compassionate response to those whose livelihoods
have been harmed by the attacks of September 11th.
Workers need help now, not down the road. The President's plan achieves
that by creatively expanding current programs, instead of starting from
scratch.
Workers need flexibility, not a one-size-fits-all approach. The
President's plan gives states the power to target assistance and customize it
where it will do the most good.
Workers need help regardless of what industry they work in - not just a
chosen few. The President's plan gets money to wherever people are hurting.
And most important of all, our workers need to get back to work - not
just get lost in a bureaucracy of dead-end social services. That's why the
President focuses not only on the workers who are currently laid off, but also
on the economy that will hire them back.
At the Department of Labor, we run programs and activities that have a
proven record of performance. Our career professionals know their programs,
what works, and they want to do their job to help workers and America. Our
nation's governors have the urgency and the infrastructure to help us deliver
these services directly to those who need our help. Let's build on the firm
foundation we have, not start something brand-new on untested ground.
The consensus of the nation is that the attacks of September 11th will
not change the way we live. We need to maintain that approach as we decide what
to do for those who need our help in this temporary season of crisis.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared testimony. I would be pleased
to answer any questions that you or other committee members may have.
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