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US Congress votes to restore lapsed jobless aid
Source: Agencies |
April 16, 2010, Friday
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THE US Congress yesterday moved to restore jobless benefits for hundreds of thousands of Americans who had lost them during a partisan standoff in the Senate over spending.
The House of Representatives voted 289 to 112 to restore lapsed jobless aid and sent the measure to President Barack Obama to sign into law. The Senate had approved it earlier in the day after weeks of delay.
With the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, some 6.1 million Americans rely on jobless benefits to help them pay the bills as they look for work as the economy recovers from the worst recession in 70 years.
Those benefits, which average roughly US$300 per week, expired for more than 200,000 Americans on April 5 after Republican Senator Tom Coburn blocked a vote shortly before Congress left town on a two-week break.
The standoff also has disrupted a federal flood-insurance program, which has held up 1,400 home sales each day in flood-prone areas and slashed emergency loans to small businesses, Democrats said.
COBRA health-insurance subsidies for the unemployed and payments to doctors under the Medicare health program have also been disrupted.
REPUBLICAN OBJECTIONS
Coburn and other Republicans argued that Congress should find a way to pay for the program rather than letting it add to a budget deficit that could hit a record US$1.5 trillion this fiscal year.
"Our debt and deficits are as much of an emergency as unemployment, yet Congress continues to pretend it can spend and borrow without restraint," Coburn said in a statement.
The Senate voted down Coburn's proposal to redirect US$20 billion from other government programs.
Democrats said jobless aid has always been considered emergency spending during times of high unemployment.
Three Senate Republicans voted for the bill. In the House, Republicans were divided with 49 voting for the bill and 112 voting against it.
Jobless benefits normally expire after six months but Congress has extended the program several times during a slump marked by record levels of long-term joblessness.
President Barack Obama said he was "grateful" that Congress had moved forward on the temporary extension but urged lawmakers to extend the benefits further.
"As I requested in my budget, I urge Congress to move quickly to extend these benefits through the end of this year," Obama said in a statement.
"I also urge Congress to move forward on legislation to help small businesses grow and hire and other measures to increase the pace of job growth," he said. "This is my top priority, and I will fight day and night until every American who wants a good job has one.
The bill passed by the Senate would extend benefits through June 2 and apply retroactively to those who were cut off last week. It would cost US$18.2 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Democrats have been extending the program on a month-to-month basis as they work on a longer-term fix.
That has given Senate Republicans plenty of opportunity for disruption.
Republican objections forced the Senate to spend most of the week on a measure that had been handled on a routine basis in the House. Democrats can expect to face similar delays on other spending measures that are not offset with spending cuts elsewhere, Coburn said.
REGULAR DEBATE TOPIC
The debate over spending is likely to resurface on a regular basis as the November congressional elections approach.
Republicans have pointed to record deficits and last year's US$863 billion economic-stimulus package to paint Democrats as reckless spenders unconcerned with the country's mounting debt.
Democrats say the country's dire fiscal situation can be traced in large part to tax cuts, wars and an expansion of Medicare that were enacted when Republicans were in control.
"Those who talk about balancing budgets who have not balanced them in the past should not be trying to do so on the backs of hundreds of thousands of unemployed in our beloved country," said Democratic Representative Sander Levin, who chairs the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.
The House of Representatives voted 289 to 112 to restore lapsed jobless aid and sent the measure to President Barack Obama to sign into law. The Senate had approved it earlier in the day after weeks of delay.
With the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, some 6.1 million Americans rely on jobless benefits to help them pay the bills as they look for work as the economy recovers from the worst recession in 70 years.
Those benefits, which average roughly US$300 per week, expired for more than 200,000 Americans on April 5 after Republican Senator Tom Coburn blocked a vote shortly before Congress left town on a two-week break.
The standoff also has disrupted a federal flood-insurance program, which has held up 1,400 home sales each day in flood-prone areas and slashed emergency loans to small businesses, Democrats said.
COBRA health-insurance subsidies for the unemployed and payments to doctors under the Medicare health program have also been disrupted.
REPUBLICAN OBJECTIONS
Coburn and other Republicans argued that Congress should find a way to pay for the program rather than letting it add to a budget deficit that could hit a record US$1.5 trillion this fiscal year.
"Our debt and deficits are as much of an emergency as unemployment, yet Congress continues to pretend it can spend and borrow without restraint," Coburn said in a statement.
The Senate voted down Coburn's proposal to redirect US$20 billion from other government programs.
Democrats said jobless aid has always been considered emergency spending during times of high unemployment.
Three Senate Republicans voted for the bill. In the House, Republicans were divided with 49 voting for the bill and 112 voting against it.
Jobless benefits normally expire after six months but Congress has extended the program several times during a slump marked by record levels of long-term joblessness.
President Barack Obama said he was "grateful" that Congress had moved forward on the temporary extension but urged lawmakers to extend the benefits further.
"As I requested in my budget, I urge Congress to move quickly to extend these benefits through the end of this year," Obama said in a statement.
"I also urge Congress to move forward on legislation to help small businesses grow and hire and other measures to increase the pace of job growth," he said. "This is my top priority, and I will fight day and night until every American who wants a good job has one.
The bill passed by the Senate would extend benefits through June 2 and apply retroactively to those who were cut off last week. It would cost US$18.2 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Democrats have been extending the program on a month-to-month basis as they work on a longer-term fix.
That has given Senate Republicans plenty of opportunity for disruption.
Republican objections forced the Senate to spend most of the week on a measure that had been handled on a routine basis in the House. Democrats can expect to face similar delays on other spending measures that are not offset with spending cuts elsewhere, Coburn said.
REGULAR DEBATE TOPIC
The debate over spending is likely to resurface on a regular basis as the November congressional elections approach.
Republicans have pointed to record deficits and last year's US$863 billion economic-stimulus package to paint Democrats as reckless spenders unconcerned with the country's mounting debt.
Democrats say the country's dire fiscal situation can be traced in large part to tax cuts, wars and an expansion of Medicare that were enacted when Republicans were in control.
"Those who talk about balancing budgets who have not balanced them in the past should not be trying to do so on the backs of hundreds of thousands of unemployed in our beloved country," said Democratic Representative Sander Levin, who chairs the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.
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