[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 7, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H6]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. Mr. Speaker, right now, 1.3 million Americans are 
asking the question, why? Why is there a debate about my ability to pay 
for rent or mortgage or food or the necessities of taking care of my 
family? Why, having worked for many, many years, am I now being denied 
an unemployment insurance benefit that was utilized for the last 5 
years and first voted on and brought forward by the Congress that 
supported President Bush in extending unemployment benefits?
  Why is there not an understanding of what it is like to receive a 
letter in the mail to indicate that you will get no more benefits, even 
though you are actively looking for work and even though there are 
three people looking for every job? Why does this House of 
Representatives not understand that we can pass a 3-month emergency 
relief for these individuals and debate for the rest of the year how do 
we get a pay-for or an offset for funding it after 3 months?
  Mr. Speaker, this is an emergency. People are on a lifeline, and we 
are killing it. It is time to pass unemployment insurance benefits now 
for the American people.

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