On the recordNovember 30, 2010
I came to the floor this afternoon to speak on behalf of thousands of families in my home State of Washington who stand to lose everything they have because a few Republican Senators continue to put politics ahead of policy. Men and women in my State from Seattle to Spokane, who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, get up every single day; they scour the want ads; they send out their resumes and desperately try to find work in an economy that continues to struggle. These workers do not want to be where they are. They would like nothing more than to be back on the job doing what many of them have been doing for years--working hard and adding value to their companies and contributing to their communities and providing for their families. But while they struggle to find work, many of them depend on the unemployment insurance programs we put in place to keep their heads above water. This support has allowed these families to put food on the table, to stay in their homes, and to pay for their children's health care. These programs are not extravagant. But for a lot of our workers today, they made all the difference.
