![inaugural information](images/inaugural.JPG)
Rep. McDermott Introduces Unemployment Insurance Reform and Stimulus Initiative
January
8, 2009
At the urging of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), co-chair of the
Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, and other House leaders, the U.S. House of
Representatives last night passed a resolution condemning the recent attacks in
Mumbai.
The House passed H. Res. 1532 by unanimous consent and Rep.
McDermott said the vote demonstrated America’s
strong and unwavering support for India,
especially in this time of crisis: “We
spoke with one voice, as one Democratic nation to another Democratic nation,
making clear our support for India and our condemnation of this unprovoked attack,” Rep. McDermott said. “I said at the time and I say again, today we
are all Indian, and we stand by your side just as you stood by America on
9/11.” Rep. Jim McDermott today introduced legislation – the
Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act (HR 290) – to promote comprehensive
reforms to the nation’s unemployment insurance program that was created in 1935
to counter the economic crisis of the Great Depression and future
recessions. McDermott is the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Income
Security and Family Support Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the
nation’s unemployment insurance program.
“Today, millions of hard-working Americans who lost their
job during this economic crisis face a second crisis when they try to obtain
their unemployment insurance compensation and discover that they do not qualify
because the system that was created in the economic reality of 1935 is unable
to match the needs of the labor market of the 21st century,” Rep.
McDermott said.
McDermott explained that 1935’s America relied largely on
full-time, male workers, yet America’s 21st Century economy relies
upon millions of part-time workers, which are disproportionately women.
McDermott said: “Low-wage and part-time workers often fall
through the cracks of the UI system, and the impact is particularly hard on
families that rely on the income of a low-wage worker or a mother’s part-time
job. Low-wage and part-time workers, who contribute to the unemployment
insurance system, are a larger portion of the workforce than they used to be,
yet they are half as likely to qualify for unemployment benefits as other
workers.”
The Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act would make $7
billion available from the federal Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund to state
governments in exchange for modest reforms to their unemployment insurance
programs. These reforms would enable more low-wage and part-time workers
to qualify for the unemployment insurance compensation they earned. The
unemployment insurance program is a joint, federal-state program that is
administered by state governments.
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Rep. McDermott Leads House Congressional Action on India Resolution
Co-Chair of India Caucus Pledges Strong U.S. Support for India
December
11, 2008
At the urging of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), co-chair of the
Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, and other House leaders, the U.S. House of
Representatives last night passed a resolution condemning the recent attacks in
Mumbai.
The House passed H. Res. 1532 by unanimous consent and Rep.
McDermott said the vote demonstrated America’s
strong and unwavering support for India,
especially in this time of crisis: “We
spoke with one voice, as one Democratic nation to another Democratic nation,
making clear our support for India and our condemnation of this unprovoked attack,” Rep. McDermott said. “I said at the time and I say again, today we
are all Indian, and we stand by your side just as you stood by America on
9/11.”
Read More >
Staggering Job Losses Highlight Need For Improvements to Unemployment Insurance
House
Legislation would modernize UI system
December
5, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C.
-- The
Bureau of Labor Statistics announced today that the U.S. economy lost 533,000
jobs last month, the largest one-month loss since 1974. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B.
Rangel (D-NY) and Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman
McDermott (D-WA) responded by calling for the swift passage of the Unemployment
Insurance Modernization Act (HR 2233). This legislation would provide
up to $7 billion for States to improve unemployment insurance coverage for many
jobless workers who are now denied those benefits.
Read More >
In Washington,
D.C. recently, the Hindu American Foundation presented Rep. Jim McDermott,
co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, with its
Friend of the Community Award.
![The Hindu American Foundation presented Rep. Jim McDermott, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, with its Friend of the Community Award.](images/Hindu_American_Foundation.JPG)
To the Congressman's right is Nikhil Joshi, Esq. – a member of HAF’s Board of
Directors; to the Congressman's left are Suhag Shukla, Esq. - Managing Director
and Legal Counsel for HAF and Ishani Chowdhury, HAF’s Director of Public
Policy.
Earmark Information
A number of safeguards and
disclosure requirements have been established for the appropriations process to
increase transparency of the process and to ensure that projects are thoroughly
vetted and are in the public’s interest. Members of Congress for the first time
have to sign a declaration for each project that they request funding for
stating that they or their family members do not have a financial interest in
the project. While it is true
that a select few of my colleagues in Congress have abused the earmark process,
the vast majority use earmarks for their true purpose; to give direct federalfinancial backing to valuable and necessary public projects.
Over the years I have secured funding in my district for a number of important transportation
and freight mobility projects, after school programs, environmental restoration
projects, housing developments, and health infrastructure and research
programs, among others. I have never received an earmark that I would be afraid
to disclose, which is why I will be posting all the earmarks I receive on this
page.
We Must Never Forgetand Never Relent in Our Fight Against AIDS
December
1, 2008
World Aids Day is a day to bear witness, to celebrate the
progress we have made and to re-dedicate ourselves to the fight by telling our
own personal stories. When experiences
are shared from every corner of the globe, we remind the world of the urgency
to act, and we renew our faith in the belief that one day soon we will
eradicate the AIDS pandemic.
I witnessed the first outbreak of the AIDS pandemic in the1980s in Africa. As a physician and psychiatrist in the U.S.
State Department, I traveled across the African continent serving U.S. missions
and working with local leaders. At the
time the AIDS virus was largely unknown and mysterious, and it spread with
stunning and devastating ferocity from country to country, killing
millions.
One couldn’t help but feel a sense of helplessness, but many
of us resolved to fight this scourge from whatever vantage point we
occupied. For me, that was the U.S.
House of Representatives, which I entered in 1989. At the urging of then-Speaker Thomas S.
Foley, I co-founded a congressional caucus on HIV/AIDS. It gave America a platform in which to
educate and organize Congress against the threat.
Congressional colleagues representing every political
viewpoint across America spoke with one passionate and determined voice to ensure that we would lead,
not merely respond to this global crisis.
And we have. Led by the United States,
the world has gained ground against AIDS, inch by inch, but inextricably
forward.
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Ways and Means Leaders Praise Senate Passage of Unemployment Insurance Extension
November 20, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Ways and Means Committee Chairman
Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) and Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee
Chairman Jim McDermott (D-WA) praised the Senate for agreeing to legislation
passed by the House (H.R. 6867) to extend unemployment insurance benefits to
Americans suffering in these difficult economic times.
“With this extension we are taking the
right step, a necessary step, toward rebuilding our economy,” said Chairman Rangel. “Extending this basic assistance to help
unemployed workers pay their mortgages, feed their families, and heat their
homes is a down payment on broader economic recovery legislation that our
economy desperately needs. I welcome the
news that the President intends to sign this critical legislation, which will
help hundreds of thousands of workers who have lost their jobs through no fault
of their own.”
Read More >
Rep. McDermott Joins Team of Volunteers to Serve 250 Seafood Meals to the Homeless and Unemployed
October 22, 2008
![Rep. McDermott Joins Team of Volunteers to Serve 250 Seafood Meals to the Homeless and Unemployed](images/081022_volunteer.JPG)
Rep. Jim McDermott joined a team of volunteers on Wednesday, October 22 in Seattle to serve 250 seafood meals to the
homeless and unemployed as part of the At-Sea Processor Association’s Community
Catch program. APA’s member companies
are all based in western Washington
and annually donate enough fish for one million seafood meals to food
assistance programs.
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Fort Lawton Provision Signed Into Law
October 14, 2008
Rep. Jim McDermott
(D-WA) announced that the President signed the Department of Defense
Authorization bill today that included a provision to award back-pay plus interest
to the Fort Lawton soldiers absolved of any wrong
doing for a World War II era crime they did not commit. The provision is Sec 592 in S. 3001.
“Justice has prevailed, but more than that, the dignity,
courage and honor lived by Samuel Snow, Booker Townsell and other African American
soldiers throughout a half century of racial injustice will write a new chapter
in American history that children will learn about for generations to come,”
Rep. McDermott said. “While no amount of
money can ever repay the lost opportunities endured by these African American
soldiers, they would be the first to say it was never about money, it was
always about equal protection under the law for everyone in America.”
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Rep. McDermott’s Foster Care Legislation Signed Into Law
October 08, 2008
The President signed Rep. Jim
McDermott’s Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing
Adoptions Act, H.R. 6893, into law late yesterday. The legislation marks the most significant
reform of America’s
child welfare system in more than a decade.
“We
are going to be able to take better care of America’s most vulnerable children
because of the major reforms contained in this legislation,” Rep. McDermott
said. “And, we are clearly telling these
children that they are not alone in America, and they can grow up in a
loving, caring home with a chance at the American Dream.”
Across America,
there are nearly 500,000 children in foster care on any given day, with approximately 130,000 waiting to be adopted.
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