Thursday, November 20, 2008 Ways and Means Leaders Praise Senate Passage of Unemployment Insurance Extension
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) and Income Security and Family Support Subcommittee Chairman Jim McDermott (D-WA) praised the Senate for agreeing to legislation passed by the House (H.R. 6867) to extend unemployment insurance benefits to Americans suffering in these difficult economic times.
“With this extension we are taking the right step, a necessary step, toward rebuilding our economy,” said Chairman Rangel. “Extending this basic assistance to help unemployed workers pay their mortgages, feed their families, and heat their homes is a down payment on broader economic recovery legislation that our economy desperately needs. I welcome the news that the President intends to sign this critical legislation, which will help hundreds of thousands of workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.”
“Extending UI benefits is nothing less than throwing a life ring to unemployed Americans to help them stay afloat in these treacherous economic waters while they continue to look for a new job,” Subcommittee Chairman McDermott said. “This legislation represents a humane, responsible and pragmatic course of action to assist decent hard-working Americans who cannot find a job in a declining domestic economy that continues to shed jobs.” |