Issue Position: Small Business, Entrepreneurs, And Employment

Issue Position

Congressman Doggett Leads Effort to Extend Federal Unemployment Benefits, Preserve a Vital Lifeline for over a Million Americans

As 2013 came to an end, I joined with several of my colleagues, including U.S. Senator Jack Reed and U.S. Rep. Linda Sanchez to urge Congress to extend emergency Unemployment Insurance to help the long-term unemployed. After a year of doing so little, the Republican Majority took a three-week holiday beginning in mid-December, letting this vital program expire. As a consequence, over a million Americans have seen their small federal benefit disappear. If Speaker Boehner permitted a vote, the House would promptly vote to assure that those Americans, actively seeking work, receive the protection of extended benefits. As happened so often this Congress, what is stopping progress is another House Republican roadblock, which prevents a majority of the House from renewing this law.

In Texas, the total weeks of unemployment benefits available since the height of the recession have been reduced by 40%. But we still have more than 64,000 individuals who have been unable to get a job after six months of actively seeking work.

Source