June 12, 1973
Page 19134
By Mr. MUSKIE:
S. 1979. A bill to make the unemployment compensation benefits provided for Federal employees applicable to U.S. citizen employees of the Roosebelt Campobello International Park Commission. Referred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service.
UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION FOR EMPLOYEES OF ROOSEVELT CAMPOBELLO INTERNATIONAL PARK
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, the Roosevelt Campobello International Park, commemorating and preserving the summer home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and its surroundings, in New Brunswick, Canada, just off the eastern tip of the State of Maine, was created by a Canadian-American treaty approved by the Senate in 1964. Under the terms of that agreement, the park employs both Canadian and U.S. citizens. But the latter, because of their peculiar status as resident U.S. citizens, consistently have had difficulty securing the employment benefits they might reasonably expect:
The U.S. citizens employed by the park, who now number 13, are subject to U.S. social security taxes and are eligible for old age, survivors, and disability insurance benefits. These employees were made eligible for workmen's compensation, through administrative regulation by the State of Maine, in which they reside. Workmen's compensation has a statutory base similar to unemployment compensation, but present statutes exclude U.S. residents who are employed by international organizations outside the country from unemployment insurance. As a result, these employees are not now eligible for unemployment insurance under U.S. law. Theoretically they are eligible for Canadian unemployment insurance, but for practical reasons they are not able to take advantage of that protection.
This exclusion is especially hard because the Roosevelt Campobello International Park has a policy of equal opportunity in employment, compensation and fringe benefits, as required in the 1964 treaty in the statutes which established the park and the Commission. I propose to rectify this problem by introducing a bill to amend the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission Act – 16 U.S.C. 1106 – to give employees of the park who are U.S. residents the benefits of Federal unemployment insurance. This bill is identical to S. 3763, which I introduced last Congress.
This approach has been endorsed by the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission.
It is a necessary measure, I believe, because Canada's obligations under the treaty will not satisfy the needs of these employees.
The Roosevelt-Campobello Treaty states that Canada is obliged "to take such measures as may be necessary to permit U.S. citizens to accept employment with the Commission on a similar basis to Canadian citizens." Canada has met its obligations under the treaty by making U.S. citizens eligible for employment in the park without discrimination, and eligible – in theory – for the Canadian unemployment insurance program. But there are serious obstacles which prevent the U.S. citizen-employees from taking advantage of Canadian unemployment benefits.
To be eligible for Canadian unemployment benefits, a U.S. resident must prove himself available for employment in the Canadian labor force, as must his Canadian counterpart. This requires a Canadian work permit and the appropriate immigration papers, which are similar to those required of Canadian residents seeking employment in the United States. Such permits and papers are not required for employment with the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Commission.
Even if such permits for private employment in Canada could be obtained, the U.S. resident could not prove himself available for employment in Canada. The employees live in Lubec, Maine, which is 300 yards from Campobello Island. The Canadian mainland is about 50 miles away by road. Thus, the U.S. residents would be unlikely to find employment in Canada within reasonable commuting distance of home. And for such a U.S. resident to prove his availability for employment in the United States would not establish eligibility for Canadian unemployment insurance benefits.
Therefore, even with the legally guaranteed opportunity to "accept employment on a similar basis to Canadian citizens," the U.S. resident has no realistic chance to qualify for unemployment insurance in Canada. To require the Canadian Government to make that possible would be to ask the Canadians to discriminate against their own citizens in their own unemployment insurance program. Therefore, the simplest and most appropriate solution to this problem would be to place these employees under the Federal Unemployment Insurance provisions of the United States.
The legislation I introduce today to achieve this end is quite simple. It would make employees of the park who are U.S. residents eligible for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits by deeming them to be in the employ of the United States for purposes of this act. I hope this easy remedy to a vexing problem will be speedily adopted by Congress.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill I introduce be printed in the RECORD at this point.
There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows
S. 1979
Be it enacted by the Senate and House o/ Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 7 of the Roosevelt Campobello International Park Act (16 U.S.C. 1106) is amended by–
(1) inserting "(a)" before "The Commission", and
(2) adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
"(b) Employees of the Commission who are United States citizens shall, for purposes of subchapter I of chapter 85 of title 5, United States Code, be considered to be in the employ of the United States."