Related Articles

Senate Votes to Extend Unemployment Benefits, Trumping GOP Resistance

July 20, 2010

The Senate passed a bill today extending unemployment insurance to millions of jobless Americans desperate for a financial lifeline.

The bill passed with the help of only two Republicans, aided by Tuesday’s seating of Carte Goodwin – the temporary successor of the late Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), who died last month.

The 60-40 vote will provide $34 billion in financial relief to out-of-work Americans whose 99 weeks of federal benefits ran out June 1.

Labor leaders urged Congress to take decisive action and offer help to the unemployed. IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill said:

It’s important that not just our members, but all Americans out of work, receive assistance in this economic crisis. People need to pay their mortgages, feed their families and provide for their basic needs. I’m pleased that the White House and a majority of lawmakers understand that folks nationwide are hurting – and that they need help now.

The bill is expected to sail through the House, and President Obama could sign it into law as early as Wednesday. The extensions would offer aid through November 30 for those who have exhausted their benefits.

Obama urged passage of the bill Monday in the White House Rose Garden, where he stood side-by-side with three out-of-work Americans. Obama said:

The Americans I hear from in letters and meet in town halls – Americans like the ones here today – they aren't looking for a handout. It's not that they don't want to work. They desperately do. They just can't find a job. They're honest, decent, hardworking folks who've fallen on hard times through no fault of their own; who have nowhere else to turn except unemployment benefits; who need emergency relief to help them weather this economic storm.

While conservatives have argued that extending unemployment will add to a swelling national debt, public opinion polls indicate that most Americans prioritize extending financial assistance to the jobless, the New York Times reported.

President Hill drove that point home in a letter urging Congress to vote for an unemployment extension:

Unfortunately, some in Congress have shown more concern for the federal deficit than unemployed Americans. Abandoning the unemployed will not help cure the deficit, it will only add to the breadth and depth of the recession.

Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska joined the GOP majority in opposition, while Maine Republicans Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe voted for passage. Republicans have blocked similar legislation three times since the beginning of the financial crisis.

For more IBEW coverage of Republicans’ unemployment insurance opposition, click here.

Photo used under a Creative Commons License from Flickr user aflcio.