Watson Coleman: “on a final note, as the conferees to the emergency supplemental appropriations bill do their work, I hope they will…”

“on a final note, as the conferees to the emergency supplemental appropriations bill do their work, I hope they will include the unemployment benefits to laid-off airline workers that Senator Murray, I, and others worked so hard with Chairman Stevens to include in the Senate bill. Some of those laid-off workers from Northwest Airlines in Minnesota are now on military duty in the Persian Gulf, called up as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. One of them, a mechanic named Todd Stock, keeps our C-130 military planes airworthy to take crucial supplies to ground troops in Iraq. While on duty in the Middle East, Todd learned he is one of the 4,900 Northwest workers who will lose their jobs because of the downturn in the airline industry. When he is serving his country so nobly, Todd Stock should not have to worry about whether he can take care of his family when he gets back home. His wife Sheila has told him just to get home safely and that they will get through it somehow. Our thoughts and prayers are with Todd Stock. Our thoughts and prayers are with that unnamed Minnesotan. Our thoughts and prayers are with those men and women on the front line. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who have lost loved ones in a great sacrifice, a worthy sacrifice, but the pain being so deep. They need to know that our love surrounds them at this moment.”