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Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) attempted to force the Republican controlled U.S. House of Representatives to provide 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits to millions of Americans who have exhausted their state benefits. As the Ranking Democratic Member on the 21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee, Kildee offered his motion during debate on H.R. 444, the Back to Work Incentive Act of 2003. Every Democrat in the House voted for Kildee’s motion to instruct, but only 2 Republicans voted in support of extending unemployment benefits.
“Millions of unemployed workers have exhausted their unemployment benefits and are no longer drawing on the unemployment benefit system, which gives the Republicans the false impression that extending unemployment insurance is no longer necessary,” said Kildee. “The reality is that millions of Americans are still unemployed and continue to struggle financially, but they are not getting the level of unemployment assistance that they need from the federal government.”
Instead of extending unemployment benefits, the Back to Work Incentive Act of 2003 provides inadequate assistance to workers through Personal Reemployment Accounts. This risky, untested job training voucher pilot program does nothing to help create jobs for millions of unemployed workers and it does not alleviate the financial burdens of out- of-work Americans. Since President Bush took office, the nation has still lost 2.2 million jobs. Yet, the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans continue to abandon workers who have exhausted their unemployment benefits by refusing to extend federal unemployment benefits program. Since the last extension expired in December 2003, more than 1.5 million displaced workers have exhausted their state unemployment benefits and they are ineligible for federal extended benefits. |
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