Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of Senate Amendment to H.R. 4851, the Continuing Extension Act, to extend a range of programs. On March 17, the House passed H.R. 4851, emergency legislation that would extend a range of programs that unfortunately expired. These programs included: unemployment benefits; help with health insurance for the unemployed, COBRA; the highway bill; satellite TV; delay in the cut in Medicare physician payments; flood insurance; and small business loan guarantees. We passed this emergency legislation in the House, but Republican Senator Jim Bunning single-handedly blocked passage of this emergency measure, despite the critical needs of millions of families across the United States during this economic downturn. As a result, a 2-day shutdown of these programs that jeopardized unemployment benefits for more than 1 million Americans and furloughed thousands of highway and transit workers. This bill compensates Transportation Department employees who were furloughed during the lapse in the Federal highway, highway and motor carrier safety, and public transit programs. Unfortunately, Republican Senator Coburn has now put a hold on H.R. 4786, which passed the House by voice vote last week, to address this problem for transportation workers. The following programs are now being extended: Unemployment Insurance: Extends unemployment benefits, including the increased payouts and longer duration of benefits from the Recovery Act through May 5.…”