[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H5737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, for the first time in history, the other 
body has to wait for a new Member to be sworn in today to take up 
unemployment insurance and break a filibuster. Even in the mildest of 
turndowns, there has always been bipartisan support for unemployment 
benefits. Ask the average American: Give us your definition of 
emergency spending: unemployment benefits paid for in part from 
employee paychecks or more tax cuts for the wealthy?
  The question answers itself, for all except my Republican friends in 
this House. They've gone further and insulted the unemployed by 
offering as an excuse that benefits keep people from looking for and 
taking jobs. The Bush recession left one job for every five job-
seekers. It's cruel to blame the unemployed for not finding work in the 
midst of the great recession. It is worst to deny them food to put on 
the table.

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