European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A sunday March 17, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary David Bro Derlong term unemployed become casualties it took president Bush Only 29 weeks to go from his first nerve testing decision to confront Saddam Hussein a aggression to the triumphant declaration that Kuwait had been liberated. If you Are one of americans More than 8 million jobless it takes you even less time a 26 weeks a before you have exhausted your regular unemployment benefits. A. In the same month of january when America showed the world its character and prowess in the persian Gulf 262,512 people a who had jobs when the persian Gulf crisis began a collected their last regular unemployment Check. There were 38,368 a exhaust Eesi in California 23,072 in new York 15,132 in Texas 14,368 in new Jersey 13,734 in Georgia and More than 10,000 each in an additional five states. Cumulatively labor department officials say at least 628,000 previously insured workers and perhaps As Many As 1 million now have exhausted their benefits without finding another Job. The Only ones who have been Able to get an Extension Are those Lucky enough to live in Alaska Maine Michigan and Rhode Island the four states where an arcane formula has a a triggered release of funds to pay for As much As 13 More weeks of benefits. But the a exhaust Eesi were luckier than most of the unemployed who never qualified for the first insurance Check. By the latest department of labor estimates total unemployment reached 8.9 million it february the highest level in four years of them 5.3 million were Job losers As distinguished from people who quit voluntarily or decided to change jobs. But Only 4 million Haduong enough work histories and High enough. Qualify for Unzem Lou Sands of them what we Are talking about Here is the failure of one of the Basic mechanisms this country put in place More than 50years ago to protect working people from the vagaries of the business Cycle. A no form of income insurance provided by the social Security act has eroded in the Way unemployment insurance has in the past decade a said sen. Daniel p. Moynihan . This did not happen accidentally. Carolyn m. Golding the Deputy assistant Secretary of labor in charge of this program argues that a there has not been a conscious strategy to reduce eligibility for unemployment  but the evidence says otherwise. George will Quot let s see in 1988 w taikep4 lot about what you Callep the v vorp Quot 0 091 More costly for the states to borrow from the Trust funds when layoffs pushed claims beyond anticipated Levels. And states eager to woo business competed with each other to Sec who could Cut unemployment insurance claims and the employer taxes that finance them. The net result has been a growing Gap Between the total unemployment rate and the insured unemployment rate. As rep. Dan Rostenkowski d-ill., Cnair Man of the House ways and Means committee explained it to me a Only about 40 percent of the unemployed get benefits and the rest get the  because of this change said Gary Burtless of the Brookings institution a the extended Benefit program has virtually ceased to  the Bush administration seemingly could not care less. As unemployment Rose last fall states began clamouring for the Federal government to release Money a already collected in employer taxes and earmarked for in the first Ronald Reagan budget of 1981, passed on the eve of a major recession standards were changed to make it harder for states to qualify for extended unemployment benefits. During the recession Congress insisted on providing longer term assistance. But in 1985, using the threat of a veto Reagan forced a phase out of those extended benefits. In addition the Federal government put pressure on the states to reduce their own programs by making it this purpose a to pay the additional costs of processing higher unemployment insurance claims As the Law provides a a a a a a a a a a. A at first Bush said no preferring to let the accumulated Trust fund surplus provide a paper reduction in the Federal deficit. Then he budgeted $100 million a half of what the states said the Law entitled them to receive. As Congress started to address the Issue Bush upped his offer to $150 million. Meantime the unemployed wait for hours in line to file claims and often Are delayed a month or More in receiving their first checks. Rep. Thomas a Downey ., who has led the fight for More adequate unemployment insurance will hold subcommittee hearings this week on his plan to raise employer taxes enough to finance a uniform Federal extended benefits program. Neither he nor Rostenkowski is optimistic. A a in be been surprised a Downey said a by How Little attention has been generated in the country and in my own party by the plight of people who Are unemployed. Democrats Are afraid. Of getting the big spender High taxer Label pinned on them. To me the most appalling thing is that my party would not understand that these Are our people a and they need  perhaps after president Bush visits liberated Kuwait he can find time to go to an unemployment claims  and take the leaders of the democratic Congress with him. But done to hold your breath. C Washington Post writers group nativism alive in puerto Rico statehood vote sen. Pat Moynihan ., thinks he has spotted an old Serpent in today a political Garden. A nativism a he exclaimed when a Senate committee killed a Bill that would have authorized a puerto rican referendum on that islands political future. Every president since Truman has affirmed puerto Rico a right to choose to retain Commonwealth status or opt for Independence or statehood. The 1988 Republican platform endorsed statehood. In the resistance to a referendum a Moynihan sees a nativism the close associate of  but not All resistance should be so stigmatized. Nativism is with reason an epithet. Nativist movements proliferated in reaction against the Waves of immigration in the 1840s and 1850s. Most immigrants then were germans and Irish and catholics Moynihan a ancestors. Xenophobia and religious bigotry Many protestant immigrants quickly became violent nativist fuelled the growth of the know nothing party. Members were supposedly sworn to answer All political questions by saying a i know nothing about  clearly nativist always have had uneasy consciences in this nation of in nug rants. In 1854, several governors and a congressmen were elected with know nuiding affiliation. I Here were anti immigrant Urban riots and attempts to legislate a 21-year residency requirement for naturalization. Lib quor thundered Horace Greeley a new York Tribune a fills our prisons with Irish culprits and makes the Gallows hideous with so Many Catholic  a Recrudescence of nativism in the 1920s coincided with the revival of the Kun flux klan and resulted in the National origins act severely limiting immigration Espe daily from Southern Europe and Asia. But the ugly passions of the past Are not dominating today a thinking about puerto Rico. Today a question is not whether puerto Picans belong in american society. Of course they do. Several million live on the Mainland. The quite different question is does puerto Rico distinct cultural entity belong in the Federal Union it was thrilling to read recent census reports that by 1990 one in four americans had an african asian hispanic or american Indian ancestry. That is up from one in five in 1980.----------- it Marks the most pronounced change in americans racial composition in this Century. Furthermore because 19th-Century immigration was overwhelmingly european whereas today a immigrants come primarily from latin american and asian nations the asian component of americans population soared 107.8 percent in the 1980sthe 1980s brought More cultural diversity than any other decade in american history. America still welcomes invigorating infusions of immigrants who Are eager to become americans. American citizenship is a citizenship of ideas. For immigrants it flows from an act of individual affirmation. Immigrants become citizens by personal assents. But a collective Choice by a distinct cultural Community like puerto Rico is problematic. Diversity a e pluribus unum a is americans boast. But from the soviet Union to Yugoslavia to Lebanon to Canada and elsewhere the world is Replete with cautionary examples of kinds of diversities that Are incompatible with the Unity requisite for Happy nationhood. Puerto Rico a religious and political values present no obstacles to statehood. However language which is the Carrier and conditioner of All culture is another matter. Puerto Rico is a Spanish speaking Community. Sixty percent of puerto Picans do not speak English. An America with puerto Rico As a state would be bilingual in a any which in spite of various accommodations for today a immigrants America today is not. Bilingualism would inevitably be institutionalized to a new degree and in new ways within this nation. Bilingualism denies the link Between citizenship and a shared culture. Already we have gone too far even to bilingual ballots which proclaim that people can exercise the most Public of rights while being apart from Public life. Americans should say diverse things but should say them in a common language that allows Universal participation m the conversation. Most immigrants want to learn English. Nativist have generally been wrong immigrants want to become As american As possible As quickly As possible. But would a entire Island people hasten to make secondary the Spanish language that is Central to their 400 years of experience As a Spanish and Caribbean Community puerto Rico a per capita income is $5,825, half that of the poorest state Mississippi $11,724 and a Quarter that of the richest Connecticut $25,001. Per haps half a the poorest half a of puerto Rico a population would gain from statehood because of enhanced Access to Federal welfare services. But statehood would nullify the tax break that subsidizes Many . Corporations that operate there. Such considerations matter but if this Issue comes to a vote there or Here the hands raised for or against statehood should not hold calculators on which the material benefits have been finely computed. The important calculations Are of cultural costs and benefits. Cwashington Post writers group