[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H45]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               EXTENDING EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

  (Mr. FOSTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on behalf of the 
thousands of my constituents who have had an essential safety net 
pulled out from under them because Congress has failed to take action 
to extend emergency unemployment insurance.
  On December 28, 1.3 million nationwide, and over 80,000 in my home 
State of Illinois, lost unemployment insurance. Our economy is still 
recovering from the worst recession since the Great Depression, and now 
is not the time to cut off this important safety net.
  I have heard from hundreds of my constituents about this, including 
Yvonne, a mother of five from Aurora, Illinois. While she has worked 
all of her life, she is now unemployed. Without unemployment insurance, 
she will no longer have a car or any of the resources she needs to look 
for work and to get her career back on track.
  Unemployment insurance is not a handout; it is a hand up. 
Unemployment insurance is for workers who have lost their job, through 
no fault of their own, and who need a lifeline while they look for 
work.
  In addition to leaving families without a safety net, failing to 
extend unemployment insurance is simply bad economic policy.

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