[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 11, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H5220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HISTORIC JUMP IN JOB LOSSES DEMANDS IMMEDIATE ACTION

  (Mr. ELLISON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, today the House will vote to extend 
unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks to help workers out as 
they continue to look for a job.
  Mr. Speaker, the grim numbers of five consecutive months of job 
losses is yet another sign that President Bush's economic policies have 
utterly failed the American people. The unemployment rate has surged 
from 5 percent in April to 5.5 percent in May, representing the biggest 
one month jump in more than 2 decades, and climbing to the highest 
level in nearly 4 years.
  These statistics are not just numbers to more than 1.5 million 
Americans who have seen their unemployment benefits expire simply 
because there are not enough jobs to go around. So today the House will 
vote to extend unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks to help 
these workers. Democrats have been pushing to extend unemployment 
benefits since the beginning of the year, but have faced stiff 
opposition from the President and congressional Republicans.
  Mr. Speaker, with job losses so far this year totaling 324,000, 
American families can wait no longer. Thanks to this Democratic 
Congress, today we are going to get some relief.

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