NELP Calls for Up-or-Down House Vote on Senate Bill to Extend Unemployment Insurance

Posted by: Mitchell Hirsch on Dec 20, 2011

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UPDATE: TUESDAY, DEC. 20 -- The National Employment Law Project (NELP) issued this statement this morning:

The National Employment Law Project (NELP) calls on the House of Representatives to hold a straight up-or-down vote on the Senate bill that extends federal unemployment insurance (UI) programs, along with the payroll tax holiday and “doc fix,” for the next two months.  The Senate Leadership negotiated a bi-partisan compromise, with the involvement and blessing of the Speaker of the House.  This compromise rebuffed attempts to scapegoat the unemployed and enact dangerous changes to the basic UI program which undermined its very purpose and effectiveness.  While a two-month deal is not ideal, time is running out to protect the unemployed from being victims of the worst partisan games Congress has ever seen.

Congress is preparing to recess for five weeks.  By the time Members return to D.C. to begin negotiations anew, close to 1.8 million long-term unemployed will lose the only life-line they possess.  As Speaker Boehner well knows, this stalling tactic virtually guarantees that benefits for the long-term unemployed, those already hit hardest by the recession and slow recovery, will lapse for a dangerously long period of time. If ever there were a time for Congress to put aside the quest for partisan advantage in advance of an election year, it is now.  The House must do the right thing – hold a vote on the Senate bill today, and let the chips fall where they may.  If it passes, the unemployed can breathe easy for a few more months.  And if it fails, then NELP calls on both Houses to conference the bill in an expedited fashion, in the bi-partisan spirit that the Senate has already displayed.

Unemployedworkers.org urges you to contact your Members of the House.  Call 888-245-3381 to connect with your Representative and urge them to support the Senate bill to extend unemployment insurance today.