Rob Portman: “I thank my colleague from Alaska. Reclaiming my time, I think he has made a good point. We are not talking about a…”

“I thank my colleague from Alaska. Reclaiming my time, I think he has made a good point. We are not talking about a negotiation here. We are talking about a weeklong extension of the existing $600 per week, so we could enable people to have some certainty and predictability on lives. I have heard from folks back home on unemployment asking: What are you doing? Why can't you come to an agreement? We talked about why. The Democrats don't seem interested about moving off their proposal, and they said it again today. Maybe they think this is good politics--maybe they think this is something worth hurting these people who are looking, to see if I am going to get my unemployment or not. I had a tele-townhall last night with a woman whose husband works in the hospitality business, and he has lost his job, and everybody else in that business has told him: Sorry, we are not open for business. He does need the help. She didn't insist on $600, but she said: Give us some certainty that something will go forward. So that is what this is about. This is just to say give us a week at $600, the full amount, in order to negotiate something that makes more sense for the economy, for small businesses, and for workers. This Martha McSally motion which was offered earlier this week and last week, we are going to offer today. It is a unanimous consent.…”