News Release
Congressman Bob Etheridge
North Carolina

January 7, 2003

                                       Contact: Sara Lang
                                       Phone: (202) 225-4531

WASHINGTON - Making good on a New Year's resolution to extend unemployment benefits for North Carolina's unemployed workers, U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) is co-sponsoring legislation to guarantee all jobless workers at least 26 weeks of extended benefits. The legislation, introduced on Congress' first day back in session, would reinstate benefits for over 50,000 workers statewide nearly 10,000 in the Second Congressional District whose benefits were cut off December 28th.

"During these tough economic times, too many of our workers have been left out in the cold by the White House and Congressional Republican leaders," Etheridge said. "North Carolinians can't feed their families on empty promises and hollow rhetoric. Now is the time for Congress to right this wrong, and extend unemployment benefits so folks can get back on their feet. I am hopeful that my colleagues will join me in putting politics aside and doing the right thing for our nation's workers."

The Rangel-Cardin legislation, which Etheridge is co-sponsoring, would provide 26 weeks of federally-funded unemployment benefits for workers in every state. Any worker who exhausted their initial 13 weeks of benefits in 2002 would receive an additional 13 weeks, and any worker whose benefits were cut off December 28th would receive the remainder of their original 13 weeks on a retroactive basis, plus the additional 13 weeks. In addition, workers in any state designated as having high unemployment would be eligible for another 7 weeks of benefits for a total of 33 weeks.

In March 2002, Congress passed legislation providing workers with an additional 13 weeks of federally-funded unemployment benefits. These benefits expired on December 28th, leaving nearly a million American workers cut off. In November, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation extending unemployment benefits for an additional three months. Despite calls from Etheridge and other legislators, the Republican leadership in the House refused to take up this legislation before the end of the session. The President called for an extension of these benefits on December 15th, well after Congress adjourned.

Attached is data prepared by the Employment Security Commission outlining the effects of the December 28th cutoff on workers in North Carolina and the Second Congressional District.

WORKERS AFFECTED BY DEC. 28TH CUTOFF OF BENEFITS

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