[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 143]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  (Ms. KUSTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KUSTER. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support for renewing 
the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.
  Because Congress failed to act, this vital program expired on 
December 28 of last year. Just 3 days after Christmas, 1.3 million 
Americans, including over 1,000 Granite Staters, were cut off from 
their benefits. Each week of congressional inaction, as many as 150 
additional Granite Staters will lose access to benefits.
  This compensation provides a critical lifeline to Granite Staters and 
other Americans who are struggling to find work.
  This includes my constituent Lois Little, a teacher who wrote to me 
from Colebrook, New Hampshire. At the end of the last school year, Lois 
lost her job after teaching for 29 years because of falling enrollment 
in her rural school district. Over the last few months, she has applied 
to over 100 jobs, without any luck.
  Her savings have been exhausted, unemployment benefits are now her 
only source of income, and she is worried about whether she can keep 
her home.
  Let's come together and give Lois a chance. Let's renew Emergency 
Unemployment Compensation today.

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