Rep Schakowsky: Don't Recess the House Until We Pass Emergency Unemployment Benefits
Don’t Recess the House Until We Pass Emergency Unemployment Benefits
Washington D.C. (January16,2014) Today, Rep. Jan Schakowsky joined Rep. Gary A Peters and 113 of her colleagues on a letter to Republican Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor asking that the House of Representatives stay in session instead of recessing for district work period. Her statement is below.
“Instead of sending us home for the next 10 days, Speaker Boehner should keep House members in Washington until we pass legislation to restore emergency unemployment benefits. Last month, 1.3 million Americans who have been unable to find work were denied the emergency federal unemployment benefits they need. Every day, another 10,200 long-term unemployed men and women join them, losing the modest benefits that enable them to pay the rent, buy food, and meet their families’ basic needs.
We should stay in Washington and do our job, not turn our backs on those who depend on us to take action. Ending emergency benefits when there are three applicants for every one job opening is cruel as well as economically-foolhardy, since it will cost 240,000 jobs in 2014 that we cannot afford to lose. I urge Speaker Boehner and the Republican majority to reconsider and join us in supporting restoration and extension of these critical benefits.
Full Letter:
Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor,
On December 28, 1.3 million Americans immediately lost all of their unemployment insurance when the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program expired. While this number grows higher with every week of Congressional inaction, the House of Representatives is scheduled to recess for district work period today for 10 days. This is unacceptable. Another 100,000 Americans will lose their benefits during this break while the families who lost their benefits right after Christmas will continue struggling to put food on the table, heat their homes, and pay their bills weeks after they lost this lifeline.
The Emergency Unemployment Compensation program is an investment with a proven economic return, and it is the right thing to do for American families. Every dollar spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.55 or more in economic activity. These benefits have also keep hundreds of thousands of American children out of poverty.
In the almost three weeks since the December 28 deadline, over 200,000 more Americans have exhausted their state benefits and are now unable to receive assistance under the expired federal program. The number grows higher every day. Approximately 72,000 Americans will lose their unemployment benefits every week – the equivalent of one person every 8 seconds.
There are legitimate policy discussions to be had about exactly how we should extend federal unemployment insurance, but we cannot find common ground when the House of Representatives is not in session and when this legislation is not even being considered in the House. The clock is ticking. This is why we urge you to cancel the pending district work period and keep the House of Representatives in session until both the House and Senate have sent legislation to the President to extend emergency federal unemployment benefits. Thank you for your consideration and we stand ready to work with you on this critical issue.
Sincerely,