[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EMERGENCY UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION EXTENSION ACT
(Ms. KELLY of Illinois asked and was given permission to address the
House for 1 minute.)
Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, as we begin today's activities,
1.3 million individuals face a harsher reality because Congress failed
to extend unemployment insurance benefits. That includes 2 million
children and 20,000 veterans who face a more uncertain future because
Congress failed to do the right thing.
The moms who attended my Chicagoland job fair don't want an
unemployment check more than a job. They do want a Congress that
recognizes that any one of us could use a little help when an economic
crisis hits and leaves us vulnerable.
The families I represent aren't looking for handouts. They are my
friends and neighbors and paid into the unemployment insurance system
with the promise that, if times got tough, they would still be able to
provide for their families using the benefits they paid for as a bridge
over troubled waters.
I am a cosponsor of H.R. 3824, the Emergency Unemployment
Compensation Extension Act, because I stand by my friends in tough
times. I urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to do the same by
passing a bipartisan unemployment insurance extension now.
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