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Pelosi Statement on 3 Million Americans and Counting Left in the Cold with GOP Blockage of UI Extension

June 9, 2014

Contact: Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today as the number of Americans cut off from emergency unemployment insurance reached 3 million:

"Each week that House Republicans continue with their callous, shortsighted and immoral refusal to extend unemployment insurance, another 72,000 Americans lose the lifeline they rely on to care for their families as they look for a job.

"Today, the number of Americans who have lost this vital emergency support hit three million. This milestone is a heartbreaking reminder of House Republicans' shameless disregard for the hardship facing these families – men and women who worked hard and played by the rules, who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, and who are now forced to brave the crisis of long-term unemployment without this essential lifeline. As long as Republicans continue to abdicate their responsibility to the American people, families will suffer and our economy will lose jobs.

"Democrats in the House have offered our Republicans colleagues chance after chance to do what's right and drop their unconscionable opposition to the UI extension. But Republicans insist on inaction. With three million hardworking Americans and counting now pushed out in the cold, the time has long since come to renew UI. Instead of pandering to the special interests and punishing those desperately seeking work, House Republicans should join Democrats to restore this essential lifeline immediately."

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