Thomas Daschle: “The Senator is exactly right, that is the intent of the legislation. As I understand it, the House chairman did clarify…”

“The Senator is exactly right, that is the intent of the legislation. As I understand it, the House chairman did clarify yesterday that his intent in drafting the legislation conformed to the Senator's view that the federal benefit start before any state-financed extended benefit. As the Senators from Washington know, the Senate put forward a bill in February that provided a simple 13-week extension to all States, which would begin immediately after the exhaustion of regular UI benefits. There are a number of States that did act in providing State-financed extended benefits before the House finally agreed to send us this compromise legislation, and those States deserve the maximum federal benefit. This is about giving workers a chance to get back on their feet. We have worked hard to recognize the technical concerns of the Senators from Washington and ensure that we were providing the maximum assistance to all States. So I will say clearly that it was the Congress' intent to provide the federal benefit immediately after regular UI and I will work with the Senators to ensure that the Department conforms with that intent.”