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Statement on Signing the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1993

November 24, 1993

Today I am pleased to sign into law H.R. 3167, the "Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1993." This legislation will provide the unemployed and their families with important assistance by extending eligibility for the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program to individuals exhausting their regular unemployment benefits. EUC benefits would be extended from last October 2 through February 5 of next year. In addition, the legislation will accelerate the reemployment of workers by requiring the establishment of a worker profiling system in each State to link workers most likely to experience long-term unemployment with effective job search assistance.

There are some important signs that the economy continues to improve and that a job recovery is underway. In the first 9 months of my Administration, our economy has created 1.3 million private sector jobs, which is more than were created in the previous 4 years combined. With the solid foundation provided by the enactment of the economic program this summer, I believe the economy will continue to grow and create more new jobs.

However, the improvement in the economy is not yet solid enough to justify discontinuing the EUC program. It is therefore appropriate that we extend EUC to provide support to help unemployed workers pay their grocery bills and other living expenses while they seek new employment.

Just providing income support to the unemployed is not enough. The Administration is committed to moving from the present system that simply buffers the pain of unemployment toward a new system that speeds displaced workers into reemployment. The critical first step in this transformation is the requirement in this Act that States establish a worker profiling system.

Under these systems, workers filing for unemployment benefits who have permanently lost their jobs and are likely to need reemployment services would be identified early in their period of unemployment. These workers would then be referred to, and offered, job search assistance. There is strong evidence from demonstration projects in New Jersey and other States that such systems reduce the period of unemployment experienced by these workers as well as the associated costs and pain of such unemployment. In short, the workers benefit through earlier reemployment, the Federal Government benefits through reduced unemployment insurance costs and increased tax receipts, and the economy benefits through increased productivity.

I believe these worker profiling systems will make a real difference and provide new opportunities for unemployed workers. We will build upon this approach in proposing a comprehensive reemployment program early next year that will provide displaced workers with greatly enhanced access to early, effective, and comprehensive services.

In combining the requirement for worker profiling systems with the extension of EUC, H.R. 3167 makes a significant down payment on systemic reform and contributes to enhancing the economic security of American workers.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON

The White House, November 24, 1993.

NOTE: H.R. 3167, approved November 24, was assigned Public Law No. 103-152.

William J. Clinton, Statement on Signing the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1993 Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/219078

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