[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 12518-12519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          PERSONAL EXPLANATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 29, 2010

  Mr. ENGEL. Madam Speaker, unfortunately, because of a necessary 
absence, I missed the recorded vote on H.R. 5623, the H.R. 5618, the 
Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act. (Rollcall vote 
No. 398) Had I been present and voting on this vital legislation, I 
would have voted yes.
  Since Congress first provided the emergency extension on unemployment 
benefits in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, I have 
voted to continue the extension at least seven times. As our nation 
recovers from the worst recession since the Great Depression, it is 
very promising that almost 431,000 jobs were added in May, the most in 
four years. But we cannot reverse two years

[[Page 12519]]

of recession overnight, nor can we turn the tide on a decade of 
declining middle class economic security. There is still much to be 
done to help the nearly eight million people who lost work during this 
economic crisis return to payrolls. Providing unemployment insurance 
benefits so that families can continue to put food on the table and pay 
their mortgage, is necessary to the economy's continued recovery.

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