House Approves Extension of Unemployment Benefits for Out-of-Work Americans

Friday, October 3, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- {U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to help Americans who are about to exhaust their unemployment benefits.

“With unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of Americans set to expire, this extension will provide much-needed help for workers who are struggling to put food on the table and pay their home and heating bills while looking for a job. In my home state of California alone, more than 200,000 workers stand to lose their benefits over the next three months unless this extension is enacted.

“In light of this morning’s devastating economic news that we lost 159,000 jobs in September, the House did the right and fair thing for millions of out-of-work Americans. 

“We can’t allow the rug to get pulled out from under jobless workers. Extending unemployment benefits is a no-brainer – it’s one of the most effective things we can do to help workers and stimulate our economy. With our nation’s financial wounds deepening by the day, the Senate and the President should join us in supporting it.”

The Unemployment Compensation Extension provides workers with an additional seven weeks of unemployment benefits for workers who have exhausted their regular unemployment and an additional 13 weeks of benefits for workers in states with the highest unemployment.

These benefits were first passed by the House last week as part of a comprehensive economic stimulus package that also invested in job creation and training programs to help unemployed workers find jobs.

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