Rob Simmons : 2nd District of Connecticut

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As your Congressman, Rob Simmons has fought to bring good paying jobs to eastern Connecticut.

Rob is also working to help those still seeking employment.

Simmons supports extending unemployment benefits. In fact, he was one of just 23 Republicans to sign a letter to the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, urging an extension of the Temporary Extended Unemployment Compensation Act (TEUC).

In addition, as a member of the Republican Working Group on Labor, Congressman Rob Simmons has done much to extend benefits for displaced working men and women in eastern Connecticut.

His record includes:

**Helped secure a $1.73 million federal grant to help nearly 325 Connecticut workers displaced by the closure of R.R. Donnelley Company;

**Facilitated the security clearances for over 1,500 union members at Electric Boat (EB). Due to an enormous backlog at Defense Security Service (DSS), processing time for some clearances was taking as long as two years. Rob Simmons worked to get EB security clearances prioritized, expedited, and promptly adjudicated when necessary. Now, EB is able to rehire, hire, and retain the best workforce in the world without major clearance delays. Many workers have credited Simmons for their financial stability by getting their jobs back quickly.

**Successfully fought for increased unemployment benefits and health care coverage for displaced workers, plus higher funding levels for training in the economic stimulus package signed into law by President Bush.

**Sent a letter to the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, requesting that $400 million for dislocated workers be included in the fiscal year 2003 bill.

***Voted three times to extend unemployment benefits, including a vote to pass H.R. 3090, the "Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002." This legislation transfers a total of $8 billion to states -- $153 million for Connecticut -- to help unemployment insurance benefits, enabling each state to extend benefits an additional 13 weeks beyond the normal 26 weeks. The plan also includes a trigger mechanism, which provides ANOTHER 13 weeks of benefits for states experiencing unemployment rates above 4%. This would be a second extension for a total of an extra 26 weeks of benefits on top of the base 26 weeks.

H.R. 3090 also provides measures to stimulate business, create jobs and boost our economic activity. The provisions of this bill serve to generate business revenue, leading to more state and federal revenues.