Press Release - The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Civil Rights Leaders, Employment Advocates, and Budget Experts Demand that Congress Pass UI/Payroll Tax Cut Extensions
For Immediate Release
Contact: Scott Westbrook Simpson, 202.466.2061, simpson@civilrights.org
December 16, 2011
Washington, D.C. – As Congress continues to debate the most important issue facing the country before it adjourns for the holidays, civil rights leaders, employment advocates, and budget experts are demanding that Congress do the right thing for the country and the economy by passing fair extensions of the unemployment insurance program and the payroll tax cut.
Nancy Zirkin, Executive Vice President of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
“The needs of the long-term unemployed -- especially among low-income families and racial and ethnic minority communities shouldn’t be used as a bargaining chip for anything. There is no precedent for this level of dysfunction. A fair payroll tax cut and an adequate unemployment insurance extension must be passed before any member of Congress takes a holiday. Stop the brinksmanship, stop the games, and do your job.”
Christine Owens, Executive Director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP)
“For the millions of unemployed workers who have been down this road of uncertainty before—including around the holiday season—it would be unconscionable for Congress to go home for the holidays without renewing the federal unemployment insurance programs. Failure to act would cut benefits for close to 2 million jobless workers in January 2012 alone, inflicting great damage on these workers and their families and on the economy overall.”
Chuck Loveless, Director of Legislation at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
“It is the eleventh hour in Congress and the fate of the federal unemployment insurance program and the payroll tax hangs in the balance. We call on Congress to act responsibly and continue the payroll tax and current federal unemployment benefit program now before they expire on December 31.”
Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
“Congressional conservatives have consistently complained about the uncertainty created by today’s economic policy. But by blocking a clean, year-long extension of UI and the payroll tax break, they’re needlessly creating exactly that—uncertainty and insecurity for working families struggling with joblessness.”
