[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9178]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    RENEWING UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, it has been 52 days now since the United 
States Senate passed bipartisan legislation to renew unemployment 
insurance for the long-term unemployed. For 52 days, Speaker Boehner 
has been the only thing standing in the way of renewing this vital 
lifeline for millions of Americans.
  In less than 3 days, the Senate bill will expire, and if Speaker 
Boehner gets his way, the House will leave town yet again without 
acting--delivering another devastating blow to the more than 2\1/2\ 
million Americans who have been cut off from this critical safety net.
  We can't let Speaker Boehner run out the clock on the Senate bill. 
Every week that goes by, more and more members of our communities lose 
their unemployment benefits, and if the House does not act, then it is 
back to the drawing board for millions of Americans who are depending 
on us.
  It is time for this body to act. The situation is not going to go 
away. It is only getting worse every week. If Congress does not act, 
nearly 5 million Americans will be without this lifeline by the end of 
the year.
  I urge the Speaker to walk by my office and see the faces and read 
the stories of the people we have left behind. They are living on the 
edge, and without this critical lifeline, many of them lose everything.
  The faces of the unemployed should not be invisible. I urge the 
Speaker to bring the Senate bill to the floor before it is too late. We 
deserve a vote.

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