OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Extending Unemployment Insurance

Floor Speech

Date: April 3, 2014
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Unemployed and Low-Income Entitlements and the Safety Net Economy and Fiscal

Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my Republican colleagues to bring the Senate's bipartisan compromise on extending unemployment insurance to the House floor for a vote.

Our economy is recovering, but not fast enough. We need to continue helping our businesses create jobs that pay living wages; but, in the meantime, we can't forget about those who lost their jobs in the downturn. Many of them have families to support while looking for jobs in a tough economy.

An analysis by Moody's found that for every dollar spent on unemployment benefits the economy generates $1.64 in economic activity. That is money that gets spent on basic necessities like food; so the grocery checker gets paid; the truck driver that delivered the food gets paid; and the farmer who grows the food gets paid. It doesn't take a Ph.D. to do the math.

And speaking of math, the Senate deal is paid for, so unemployment insurance doesn't add to the deficit.

For all these reasons, I call on my Republican colleagues to bring this to the floor for a vote today.


Source
arrow_upward