WASHINGTON - Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) today made the following statement at a press conference before signing a discharge petition to force House Republican leadership to allow a vote on a measure Rep. Levin introduced that would extend emergency unemployment insurance. The Dec. 28 expiration of the federal program has now cut off unemployment insurance to more than two million people - a state-by-state breakdown is here - harming more than one million children and affecting 200,000 veterans. Nearly five million people will lose access to unemployment insurance through the end of the year should Republicans continue to block an extension. The discharge petition, filed by Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois, would force a vote on the House floor to extend unemployment insurance if 218 members of Congress sign on.
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“The failure to act on unemployment insurance has cost the national economy in January and February $3 billion. But I want to talk about the two million-plus people out in the cold because of the failure to act. This is a Craigslist ad from Denver, Colorado: ‘Family heirloom. Professionally appraised at $895. Family quilt that needs to be sold. Laid off, unemployment not extended. Resorting to selling personal items.’ This one from Vermont: ‘I need to sell my gorgeous wedding set. Paid $4,500. Need to sell for $2,000 to pay bills. Both engagement ring and wedding band have 1 3/8 carats each … I hate to get rid of it, but without the unemployment extension, everything must go.’ Everything must go. People work for their unemployment insurance. We need to act."
