On the recordMarch 25, 2010
on April 5, the extension that was recently voted for extended unemployment compensation benefits will expire. We need to at least provide for a temporary extension while we await the resolution of a much broader piece of legislation that is in the House today which would provide for an extension of unemployment benefits from today until the end of the calendar year, as well as FMAP payments to the States and other provisions. This is absolutely critical. In my home State of Rhode Island, we have basically a 13-percent unemployment rate--12.7 percent. We have a record number of long-term unemployed people. This is not a situation, as in the past, where there was a temporary labor crisis. This has been going on in Rhode Island for almost 2 years or more, and people have reached the end of their resources and the end of their patience. For many, the only thing that is sustaining them--and not particularly well--is the fact they are still getting some unemployment benefits. So we have to move very aggressively to provide a solution.
