Washington, DC--Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) issued the following statement regarding the passage Thursday of the latest extension of unemployment benefits. The passage occurred after the Senate managed to defeat a Republican filibuster blocking the extension of benefits to the unemployed workers.

“Partisan bickering must end, especially when it directly affects unemployed families and their attempts to survive financially while looking for work. I am pleased to see the Senate end its procedural quibbling and permit the passage of legislation to extend unemployment benefits to those families hit hardest by these economic hardships. Hundreds of thousands of people lost additional weeks of benefits, after exhausting their state-paid benefits, due to the Republican filibuster. Those families will be able to reapply for long-term unemployment benefits and receive those checks retroactively under the legislation.

“I applaud Republican Senators Voinovich, Snowe, and Collins for crossing party lines and voting for this measure. It would be nice to see more of their colleagues work for the greater good for the American people rather than for political gains. I still find it hard to believe that the same party who gave us unpaid wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is taking a hard line against spending to allow unemployed Americans to pay their mortgages and keep the power on.

“This extension will provide continued unemployment benefits through June 2. This was coupled with news of a recent increase of 162,000 jobs nationwide in March, compared to January 2009, when the economy lost over 750,000 jobs in the final days of the Bush Administration. Thirty-three states reported job gains last month, including the 11,700 jobs gained by New York State. The extension will help families patch things together and allow the economy to recover.

“Despite bold steps taken by Congress and President Obama, the hole to dig out from was extremely deep and will not be fixed overnight. Recent gains are promising, especially after months and months of catastrophic losses. However, none of this is comforting news to those who are currently out of work. Positive steps like these give hope to those out of work, but the reality of paying the rent and putting food on the table continues to be daunting. We cannot be complacent, as there is still much more to be done for these families. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the House to pass legislation to create short-term and long-term jobs for those out of work, and provide businesses with the resources needed to help bring more jobs to American communities.”