Yvette Clarke: “I thank the gentleman from Las Vegas (Mr. Horsford) for his leadership and guidance during this CBC Special Order. Today…”

“I thank the gentleman from Las Vegas (Mr. Horsford) for his leadership and guidance during this CBC Special Order. Today I rise to support the extension of emergency unemployment benefits. Since 2008, both parties have come together to provide extra weeks of unemployment benefits for our fellow Americans. These Americans are our neighbors, our relatives, our friends, and constituents who are unemployed through no fault of their own. They have consistently tried to find employment, having pounded the pavement each and every day but, unfortunately, to no avail. They deserve our help. Unemployment benefits help Americans pay for their most basic survival needs: food, housing, and medical care. If unemployment benefits are not extended, approximately 5 million Americans are expected to lose emergency unemployment benefits over the next 12 months; and of that number, 383,000 are New Yorkers. Failing to extend the emergency benefits will reduce economic growth by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of 2014 and cost our economy 310,000 jobs next year. Is this really another problem that we want to have our Nation face? It is important to realize that unemployment not only negatively affects individuals and their families but also our economy, in particular, small business owners. The mom-and-pop shops that are the pillars in our communities suffer more when their customers cannot patronize their businesses.…”