[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H8742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            LET'S VOTE ON A CLEAN UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS BILL

  (Ms. HAHN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HAHN. Mr. Speaker, we're running out of time. Just in California, 
where I come from, 356,000 Californians are at risk of losing critical 
unemployment benefits because this Congress has failed to act. These 
aren't just 356,000 strangers; these are our friends, these are our 
neighbors, these are our families. These are proud Americans who 
through no fault of their own have lost their jobs. They want to work, 
but because this Congress has failed to act, jobs are hard to find. And 
instead of just voting on extending these unemployment benefits, my 
Republican friends have asked us to approve other unrelated 
controversial items in this bill.
  What I'm saying to my Republican friends is, can't we just vote on 
the unemployment benefits by themselves? Can't we debate the oil 
pipeline later? Do we have to gut clean air laws to extend benefits? 
Let's vote on this on its own and give Americans some hope.

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