Dear Leader-elect McCarthy:
We write to request a meeting with you to discuss devising and advancing a bipartisan plan to renew emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) for millions of Americans who are still struggling to find work. Since EUC expired on Dec. 28, 2013 more than 3.1 million Americans, including nearly 300,000 veterans, are without this critical lifeline and that number is expected to exceed 5 million Americans by the end of the year unless Congress acts.
Under your new leadership, you have an opportunity to bring both sides of the aisle together to find a solution to this problem. We hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity and sit down with us to discuss how we can work together to provide relief to the long-term unemployed. At a time when so many families all across the country are struggling to make ends meet, we should be doing everything we can to provide assistance to Americans who continue to look for work.
As you know, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill in April to restore EUC for five months with retroactive benefits. Unfortunately the House refused to take up the Senate bill, which expired on June 1, 2014. While the House has not taken any action on this issue, the Senate is working together again in a bipartisan manner to introduce and advance another bill to extend EUC.
We strongly believe it is time for the House to join the Senate in putting aside our political differences and coming together for the good of the country. It has now been nearly six months since unemployed Americans lost their EUC and the longer we wait to find a solution to this problem the more severe this situation becomes for those families. Many Americans have already drained their savings and retirement and some have even become homeless without this lifeline.
We have all seen that this body can do great things when we come together and work towards a common goal. It is within all of our interests and our country’s economic interest that we come together now and work on finding a responsible and real solution to this problem. We urge you to seize this opportunity as the new Majority Leader to set a new tone in Congress and show that this body can still accomplish great things and tackle the toughest issues when we work together.
Thank you for your time and attention on this matter. We look forward to your timely response.
Sincerely,
Cicilline
Schakowsky
Ellison
Levin
Kildee
Crowley
Becerra
Tonko
Horsford
Titus
