On the recordJuly 9, 2014
Mr. Speaker, today, millions of Americans across the country need emergency unemployment insurance to support their families--to provide for their very basic needs--as those hardworking Americans have lost their previous jobs and are simply in search of their next opportunities, through no fault of their own. Somehow, this issue has been turned into a partisan issue. It is not a partisan issue back home. There is no such thing as a Democratic or a Republican unemployed person. They are unemployed, and they are looking for all the help they can get. The week before last, I and three of my Democratic colleagues and Mr. LoBiondo--a Republican--and three of his colleagues introduced a bipartisan unemployment insurance extension. It is a mirror image of the language that has been introduced by Mr. Reed and Mr. Heller in the Senate. This is a bipartisan bill. We can take this up right now. Is it the bill that I would have written by myself? No. In fact, I did submit an extension of unemployment that the House has not taken up, but we have compromised. We ought to do the work of the American people. We have a bipartisan bill to extend unemployment insurance. The House should take it up immediately. Millions of Americans need it, and it is upon us to take this action. ____________________





