On the recordFebruary 17, 2012
I am proud to stand with the President and working Americans today by supporting this measure, which will add an average of $1,000 to the paychecks of working North Carolinians this year, extend unemployment benefits for Americans who have lost jobs through no fault of their own, and ensure seniors on Medicare will be able to see their doctors. After a year in which Republicans in Congress took the country from one manufactured crisis to the next, this bipartisan agreement is a step in the right direction and at a time when so many families are still struggling to make ends meet, it may be our last chance to help revive the economy as we head into an election year. Once again, however, House Republicans are asking us to rob Peter to pay Paul, and the positive economic impact of this measure will be undermined in part by their senseless and misguided insistence that federal employees, hospitals, clinical laboratories, and preventive health programs must bear the cost. Unemployment benefits are paid out during true economic emergencies and should not require offsets. And to the extent we should offset the cost of the other programs extended in this measure, we should do so by asking corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share--not by asking middle-class Americans and providers of health care who have already sacrificed in the name of deficit reduction to do even more.…
