Foster Calls For Vote On Unemployment Insurance As Over Two Million Americans, 200,000 Veterans Lose Benefits
Washington, DC -- Today, Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) is continuing to call on Speaker Boehner to schedule a vote to extend unemployment insurance. As of Thursday, March 6th, over two million Americans, including 200,000 veterans, have lost their unemployment insurance because Congress has failed to vote on an extension of emergency unemployment insurance.
Foster joined 161 Members of the House in sending a letter to Speaker Boehner. A copy of the letter is available here.
“Because Speaker Boehner and House Republicans have blocked every attempt to bring this up for a vote, over two million Americans, including 200,000 veterans, have been cut off from unemployment insurance,” said Foster. “Unemployment insurance is not a hand out, it’s a hand up for workers who lost their job, through no fault of their own, and need a lifeline while they look for work. In addition to leaving families without a safety net, failing to extend unemployment insurance is simply bad economic policy. Congress needs to take immediate action to restore this important lifeline.”
In January, Foster spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives on the need to extend unemployment insurance. Video is available here.
The letter comes after a new report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 200,000 veterans are among the now over two million people who have lost their UI benefits since they expired at the end of last year.