Unemployment Insurance

Floor Speech

Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, it has been nearly 2 months since the Senate acted to extend unemployment compensation to millions of Americans. It is a bill that was passed in a bipartisan fashion, the way folks back home want us to do things; a bill that was paid for, as was requested; a bill that will not increase the deficit one penny; and a bill that would extend unemployment benefits and help preserve the American way of life for 2.8 million Americans who are at risk of losing everything that they have worked for.

And so what the American public asks me--I know what the folks back home ask--is, Why won't the House act? We know that there is bipartisan support for this legislation even in this body.

The bill that I introduced, H.R. 4415, right after the Senate acted with the precise same language, has bipartisan cosponsorship. So the question is, Why? Why won't Congress act? Is it because this question is too complex? No. This one is really simple. We have a bill that would extend unemployment compensation that is paid for, and it would prevent families from losing their house. Every day that passes that we don't act, a family loses their home. Every day that passes, a family loses hope. It is on our watch that we are allowing this to happen.

I call upon Congress to act.

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