Congressman Cleaver Urges Senate Republicans to Stop Blocking Benefits
Washington, D.C. — Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II, today urged Senate Republicans to stop blocking critical legislation that would boost America's economic recovery, reduce the number of people standing in Missouri’s unemployment lines, and provide relief for those in between jobs.
Since September of 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed several bills that would create jobs and stimulate the economy. Meanwhile, the legislation has been stalled in the U.S. Senate. In June, 272,000 Missouri residents were counted among the unemployed. The unemployment rate in Missouri is at an appalling 9.1 percent, up 3.8 percentage points from December 2007.
"When you have near 10 percent unemployment, and the possibility that it is going to rise, you have an emergency,” said the Congressman. “Though no one wants to add to the debt, there are two exceptions: war and unemployment. More than two million Americans are losing their unemployment benefits because of the Senate Republicans obstruction. This number keeps getting higher as they dive further down into poisonous partisan politics.”
Republicans in the Senate have blocked legislation that would extend unemployment benefits for millions of people, provide $1 billion for 350,000 youth employment jobs program and $2.5 billion in emergency assistance for needy families working in public and private sector jobs.