[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H5728]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT EXTENSION

  (Mr. BRALEY of Iowa asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, unemployment benefits and Social 
Security benefits are a safety net. They are not a lottery handout; and 
as we struggle to try to get the Senate to pass an extension of 
unemployment benefits, with 15 million out-of-work Americans who are 
depending on us to pay their bills, it's important to remember that the 
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said that passage of 
unemployment benefit extensions is one of the most cost-effective and 
fast-acting ways to stimulate the economy.
  But lost in all of this debate and all of this delay is the human 
side. So I want to share the story fresh from the headline of today's 
Dubuque Telegraph Herald with the headline: ``Desperation sets in for 
jobless parents.'' A family with a 32-year-old dad and 30-year-old mom 
could provide for their children a year ago, but times have changed 
because Mom suffered an injury at work and hasn't been able to work 
since March. Dad lost his job a couple of months later, and their 
unemployment benefits expired in July. The family includes girls, 14 
and 10, and boys, 11 and 7.
  These are the Americans who need us to act now.

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