Commerce, Justice, Science, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010--Continued
Floor Speech
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010--Continued -- (Senate - October 08, 2009)
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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I rise today to add my voice to Senator Baucus in strong support of the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act. This bill, as the Senator said, is designed to help those families who are struggling in all 50 States by extending at least 14 weeks of unemployment benefits to workers across the country who are going to exhaust their benefits by the end of this year.
I thank Majority Leader Reid and Chairman Baucus for bringing this bill to the floor, and the many Senators and staff who have worked so hard to get this done, particularly Senator Jack Reed, who is going to be speaking, Senators Chris Dodd and Amy Klobuchar.
Through no fault of their own, many of those who lost their jobs months ago still cannot find work. Five million workers have been unemployed for more than 6 months. That is an all-time high, and it is why extending unemployment benefits in all 50 States is so important.
When I am back in New Hampshire and meeting families trying to get by, one thing is very clear: People want to go back to work, but they face one of the weakest job markets since the Great Depression. Until that job market improves, we have a responsibility to help those workers pay their mortgages and keep food on the table.
Another very important reason why we should support this, and why I am disappointed that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have refused to come forward in support of this, is that extending unemployment benefits is a proven boost to our economy. Unemployment compensation is money that gets spent immediately on necessities. People who are out of work need this money to help pay the rent, pay their mortgages, buy food, pay for gas. Extending unemployment benefits is one of the most effective actions we can take to help get this economy moving again, and I urge my colleagues to support this important extension and to quickly pass this critical legislation.
Madam President, I yield the floor.
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