[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4276]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 EXTEND FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Cleaver) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, sometimes you just have to say enough is 
enough. I stand before you today in the hopes that we can come together 
and understand that today is that day. Enough is enough.
  Federal unemployment insurance must be extended--and extended 
quickly. It is time. In fact, it is past time. There are now more than 
2 million Americans struggling to get some kind of existence in place 
each day after having this critical lifeline cut off this past 
December. The number climbs each day.
  I could talk to you about the human toll of this disgraceful play of 
putrid and petty partisan politics, like the 57-year-old woman 
preparing to live in her car, the 34-year-old mother wondering how she 
will pay rent and feed the kids at the same time, and the 47-year-old 
man who made himself a career in manufacturing but lost his job due to 
layoffs a year ago and now describes himself as ``in a panic.''
  These and millions of other Americans, including almost 35,000 in my 
home State of Missouri alone, are hardworking people who have played by 
the rules and found themselves out of work through no fault of their 
own. And now new data shows that some 200,000 of those who have been 
brushed aside are veterans. They have gone to Iraq. They have gone to 
Afghanistan. These are men and women we should not throw aside.
  Let's stop the harmful and fact-free rhetoric that paints these 
fellow Americans--our neighbors, our friends, and our veterans--as 
people trying to game the system, people trying to get something for 
nothing, people who just ``don't want to work.'' Phooey. Rats. Sheesh. 
Yecch. It is time for us to act.
  The contrary is true. Recipients of unemployment insurance are a very 
diverse group, with almost half having completed at least some college 
and almost 5 million of them holding bachelor's degrees or higher. The 
stereotypes don't work here; and when we stereotype, we move our 
constituents to corroborate.
  These are people for whom the stakes could not be higher. These are 
people who have worked all or most of their lives and gotten hit--and 
hit hard--in the recession that ominously hit in 2008. These are people 
who want to work, spend their days trying to find work, and now are 
slowly sinking into a financial abyss while we here in Washington play 
games.
  Sometimes you just have to say enough is enough. There are times when 
we must just put politics aside and act on what is in the best 
interests of the country.
  It is my hope, Mr. Speaker, that this Congress will act--and act 
quickly.

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