M. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and the underlying bill.
M. Speaker, it's about time. For 7 weeks, millions of Americans who have lost their jobs - through no fault of their own - have worried about how they're going to pay for groceries, pay their mortgage or pay for their children's college tuitions.
They've sat around their kitchen tables and made tough decisions about their family budgets. And through this all, they've continued to apply for job after job after job.
That's what unemployed Americans have done during these past 7 weeks.
But what have Senate Republicans done to help them? To restore benefits to Americans who have earned them through a lifetime of work?
Nothing.
Sure, they've talked a lot about extending the Bush tax cuts for their wealthy friends which they don't want to pay for.
And sure, they've made a lot of noise characterizing unemployment benefits as a government handout or as somehow encouraging lazy behavior.
But, I would challenge any of my Republican colleagues to say those things face-to-face to someone who's been out of work for a year. Who's applied for job after job after job without getting any response.
M. Speaker, the facts don't lie.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, extending unemployment benefits is the most efficient way for the government to generate economic growth. Each $1 spent on unemployment benefits creates up to $1.90 (one dollar and ninety cents) in economic output.
Extending these benefits also creates jobs and decreases the chances that we slip into a double dip recession.
Let me remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle of a recent statement from Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody's Analytics and an advisor to Senator McCain during his 2008 presidential campaign.
And I quote, -I firmly believe that extending emergency unemployment insurance benefits and providing more help for the state governments is vital at this point to ensure that the housing downturn doesn't take the broader economy with it.- End quote.
In every other economic crisis in American history, Democrats and Republicans have put aside their partisan differences and provided emergency unemployment benefits to those Americans who have lost their jobs.
M. Speaker, House Democrats did our job. On July 1st, we passed an extension of benefits that would have restored benefits for those who lost them in early June. It would have also ensured that jobless Americans would have the peace-of-mind of knowing that benefits were available to them through the end of November while they continued to apply for jobs.
Since then, we have worked and reworked this benefits extension to address Republican concerns.
But every time, we've been stonewalled by Republican obstructionism. They'd rather use unemployed Americans as political pawns instead of restoring benefits to good, decent, hardworking people who have earned them over a lifetime of work.
Enough is enough.
I urge my colleagues to support this rule and the underlying bill.
