Jobless Benefit Extension Clears Senate Hurdle

Published: July 20, 2010 - New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Senate cleared the way Tuesday for more unemployment pay to reach millions of Americans who have been out of work for six months or more as the Democratic-led Congress pruned one more item off the list of issues it hopes to tackle in an intensely polarized election year.

Minutes after Carte P. Goodwin was sworn in as the new Democratic senator from West Virginia to replace the late Robert C. Byrd, the Senate voted 60 to 40 to break a partisan logjam and end debate over the jobless pay, overriding Republican objections that the $34 billion cost of the additional compensation should not be added to the deficit.

“One vote made a difference today for millions of Americans who have been out of work waiting for their unemployment benefits,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, said about Mr. Goodwin’s arrival to cast his decisive vote.

The Senate must still give final approval to the unemployment bill, though the procedural victory assured passage as early as Wednesday. The House was expected to give quick final approval followed by the signature of President Obama.

Even after the vote Tuesday, Democrats accused Republicans of needlessly stalling the bill by using their procedural power to delay the vote by a day rather than allow final consideration.

Two Republicans, Senators Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, joined 56 Democrats and 2 independents in mustering the minimum number required to advance the plan to provide jobless pay through November for those who have exhausted the standard 26 weeks of benefits. Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska was the only Democrat to vote with 39 Republicans against the bill.

Republicans said they supported providing more jobless pay for struggling Americans but argued that the costs should be offset with spending cuts elsewhere to avoid adding to rising federal deficits. They proposed that money not yet spent from last year’s economic stimulus plan be used to cover the costs.

“When given the option to pay for these benefits with unused stimulus funds, the president and Congressional Democrats chose adding to the country’s red ink over fiscal responsibility,” Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said.

Democrats argued that diverting stimulus money would weaken federal efforts to create jobs for the very people they were helping with the unemployment pay. They said unemployment pay had often been treated as an emergency need free of any deficit considerations.

About two million Americans have seen their benefits run out since the legislation stalled at the end of May. The difficulty that Democrats had in moving ahead with what has traditionally been a popular vote has forced the leadership to scale back expectations for what it can yet accomplish this year given the requirement to produce at least 60 votes in the Senate on every bill.

Before breaking for the August recess, Congressional leaders now hope to wrap up the unemployment aid, another bill to provide loans and incentives to help small businesses, and an overdue measure to provide money for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senate Democrats also intend to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court after her nomination cleared the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

But many lawmakers say they believe the main legislative action of the first half of President Obama’s term is approaching an end. Though Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, also hopes to debate an energy measure, he acknowledged on Tuesday that his plans for the bill were in flux even as others said there was not enough time to take a serious run at a comprehensive energy proposal.

“We’re going to make a decision in the near future,” Mr. Reid said. “We’re not really at a point where I can determine what I think is best for the caucus and the country at this stage.”

To most Democrats, the added unemployment pay was a priority, given the persistently bad employment outlook back home. Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, accused Republicans of a “shameful effort” to hold up the unemployment aid, bristling at suggestions by some Republicans and their conservative allies that the stream of jobless money was keeping people from seeking jobs.

“There’s one job for five to eight people out there and to say somehow by giving them $15,000 a year, $300 a week, this is going to keep them from going to work,” Mr. Harkin said. “Preposterous. Absolutely preposterous.”

Republicans said their position was being mischaracterized by Democrats, who they said were forced to extending unemployment pay because their efforts at job creation had failed.

“The people in this country are not looking for those government-driven solutions,” Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a member of the Republican leadership, said. “Most of them are looking for government to get out of the way, to back off so that they have that ability to create those jobs.”

Mr. Goodwin, who at 36 became the newest and youngest member of the Senate, made a notable entry, taking the oath of office from Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday afternoon and then quickly providing the clinching vote for the stalled unemployment pay. Friends and family members in the Senate gallery applauded his first roll-call vote and drew a gentle chiding from the chair for violating Senate rules.

After the showdown, Mr. Goodwin, who is to serve until a special election in November, said he felt privileged that his first vote was one “that helps millions of Americans and over 12,000 West Virginians who are still looking for work as the economy continues to turn around.”

“These are real issues that affect real West Virginians and real Americans in very real ways,” he said.

Both parties expect the unemployment fight to play out in midterm election campaigns, and the White House is planning a signing ceremony for the measure.