Today I have signed into law H.R. 2594, the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Amendments Act of 1996, proving once again that when management and labor work together they make their businesses, their communities, and our working families stronger.
This bill, which was supported by both labor and management, brings unemployment benefits for railroad workers in line with benefits for other workers. It also reduces the waiting periods for receiving unemployment and sickness benefits and increases the maximum daily rate for these same benefits.
In short, this bill is good for the American economy and the American worker. I applaud rail labor and management and those at the Railroad Retirement Board, the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, the National Mediation Board, and all others who had a hand in helping to create the climate that has led to good relations and progress in the industry.
NOTE: H.R. 2594, approved October 9, was assigned Public Law No. 104-251.
William J. Clinton, Statement on Signing the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Amendments Act of 1996 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/221857