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Letter to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House on Extension. of Temporary Unemployment Compensation.

April 10, 1962

Dear Mr.___________:

I am transmitting herewith, for the consideration of the Congress, a draft of the legislation which would extend the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Program until April 1, 1963.

The present program expired April 1, 1962. But there are still large numbers of long-term unemployed, and I believe that immediate action is required so that the benefits of the program can continue. In my letter of March 12 you will recall I expressed concern about the effect of the termination of the temporary program upon these workers. I therefore urged early consideration by the Congress of legislation which called for permanent improvements in the Federal-State unemployment insurance system. However, in view of the heavy schedule faced by the committees of the Congress before whom that legislation is pending, it seems unlikely that the legislation will be able to receive the consideration it deserves this year. Under these circumstances, provision should be made for continuation of the temporary program.

The Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Program which expired April 1 did not cost as much as had been estimated. Accordingly, $184 million will be available from the special taxes to be collected on 1962 and 1963 payrolls to help finance the extension I am proposing, and an increase of only 0.1 percent in the tax rate for 1964 is necessary to finance the remaining cost of the extended program.

The Secretary of Labor estimates that 1,500,000 long-term unemployed workers throughout the Nation will be benefited by the new extension of the Unemployment Compensation Program.

Sincerely,

JOHN F. KENNEDY

Note: This is the text of identical letters addressed to the Honorable Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the Senate, and to the Honorable John W. McCormack, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

John F. Kennedy, Letter to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House on Extension. of Temporary Unemployment Compensation. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236368

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