Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) released the following statement today at a press conference about the importance of extending unemployment benefits:

“Thank you so much.  I just want to add that I know firsthand what it’s like to fall on hard times and need a hand-up.  Forty years ago, when I was a single mother trying to raise three children, I was lucky enough to have a job, so I didn’t need unemployment benefits.  But I did need Aid to Families with Dependent Children just to make ends meet.  I did need the compassion of the government and my fellow citizens just to survive.  Without the safety net, I don’t know what my family would have done.

“We cannot abandon people who’ve been victimized by this sluggish economy.  These are proud people who aren’t just willing to work… they’re desperate to work.  But for every available job, there are roughly five unemployed who need a life preserver.  Extending unemployment benefits is not just a moral imperative; it will pump life back into the economy, giving people money in their pockets that they’ll spend at shops, grocery stores and other businesses. 

“I can’t believe that some on the other side of the aisle are resisting this extension – sticking their finger in the eye of jobless Americans – while protecting lavish tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.  That flies in the face of common sense and does violence to our values.

“One Republican member even said: Congress ‘ought to concentrate on paying people to work, not paying people not to work.’  Except his party hasn’t lifted a single finger to do a single thing about the jobs crisis.

“Let’s extend unemployment benefits and pass a big, bold jobs bill that puts Americans back to work.”