The Washington Hotline

Week of October 6, 2008
(Special Edition)

Unemployment Assistance
Friday, the House passed the Unemployment Compensation Act of 2008 (H.R. 6867), bipartisan legislation to provide additional assistance to jobless workers who continue to suffer from the lagging economy and unemployment.  With unemployment on the rise, this is just the right tonic needed to strengthen the safety net for working families that are being forced to bear the brunt of the current economic downturn.

Earlier this year, I teamed up with Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) to introduce the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act. The bipartisan measure quickly gained traction in Congress and was signed into law in July.  While the McDermott-English bill helped to ease the burden of unemployment on American families and workers, I have continued to work to advance additional legislation.

Unemployment rates jumped to 6.1 percent in September and nearly 800,000 workers are projected to exhaust their Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) extended benefits in October unless Congress acts.*

H.R. 6867 is a continuation of the McDermott-English law.  Specifically, it would amend the current EUC program to provide an additional seven weeks of extended unemployment benefits in every state, bringing the total amount of potential extended benefits to 20 weeks.  In addition, jobless workers that have exhausted state and federal benefits in states with high employment rates, at or above six percent, would receive another 13 weeks of unemployment benefits.

Click HERE to watch my speech on the House floor on Oct. 3, 2008. 

3rd District Services
Don’t forget, my 3rd district staff can assist local residents with problems they might have with federal agencies such as Housing, Social Security, Medicare, military and veteran’s affairs and immigration. U.S. Flags can be purchased through my office and we can even assist you with your visit to the nation’s capital.

For more information contact one of my offices today.

###