Pelosi Statement on House Passage of Extension of Unemployment Insurance Benefits;

Pelosi Statement on House Passage of Extension of Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami/Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after the House passed legislation to provide up to 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to workers in high unemployment states:

â€Å"The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression is taking its harshest toll on the men and women who are facing it without steady employment. The New Direction Congress' top priority is to put in place policies that will grow the economy and create jobs, but despite clear signs of economic recovery, too many Americans have yet to return to full-time employment.

â€Å"Today, the House of Representatives extended a lifeline to hundreds of thousands of workers nationwide. Extending unemployment insurance in the states hardest hit by the recession provides families with the assistance and reassurance they need to help weather the economic storm. The 314,000 Americans set to lose unemployment insurance this month - and the more than 1 million who will exhaust their benefits by the end of the year -need help to avert an even bigger financial tragedy, such as the loss of their home or a medical bankruptcy, which would ripple out into our larger economy.

â€Å"Extending these benefits is also among the most cost-effective and fastest ways to stimulate the economy - because the money is spent quickly. Every $1 spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.63 in new economic demand. But it is only one component of our larger strategy. With the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we have already brought our economy back from the brink and are starting to set our economy back on the path to prosperity. The dream of affordable, accessible, quality health care is in reach, and the drive to strengthen our clean energy economy and bring common sense regulation to our financial markets will lay the foundation for growth long into the future.â€