WASHINGTON, DC - The House of Representatives today passed H.R. 4213, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act, by a vote of 272 to 152. This critical legislation retroactively restores and extends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) and Extended Benefits programs through Nov. 30, 2010. For six weeks, Republicans in the Senate have blocked this bill, preventing over 2.5 million unemployed Americans from receiving the benefits that they deserve.
“The House acted in May, but for six weeks Senate Republicans blocked unemployment insurance," said Ways and Means Chairman Sander M. Levin (D-MI). “They stood not on the side of, but in the way of millions of Americans. During those six weeks over 2.5 million unemployed Americans exhausted their benefits and struggled to stay afloat while continuing to look for work in this difficult economy."
“So today we put this sad chapter behind us and move forward to continue our efforts to support job creation and to continue to dig ourselves of the ditch that we inherited from the last Administration."
The House originally voted to extend the programs on May 28, 2010 in an attempt to prevent a lapse in benefits, but the measure was blocked by Senate Republicans. Since then, millions of unemployed workers started losing their benefits, some as early as the end of May.
