[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]


                         UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Takano) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to show my support for the 
reinstatement of emergency unemployment insurance for thousands of 
residents in the Inland Empire and millions of other Americans across 
the Nation. These Americans rely on these benefits so they can put food 
on their table, so they can pay for heat, and so they can continue 
their search for work.
  Now, my friends on the other side of the aisle will have you believe 
that these millions of Americans are just too lazy to find work and 
that they are only interested in handouts. My Republican colleagues 
believe in making the long-term unemployed more desperate and that this 
desperation will be the necessary motivation for them to find work. 
Well, when has an unpaid gas bill ever created a job? When has forcing 
someone to go to sleep hungry ever created a job?
  Let me remind my colleagues that the Great Recession was the worst 
economic downturn since the Great Depression and that there are still 
three people competing for every job opening. While our recovery is 
gaining momentum, it has been the wealthiest that have benefited the 
most, leaving far too many Americans behind.
  Let's extend these emergency benefits for the long-term unemployed. 
Let's create jobs, not desperation.

                          ____________________