Senate Republicans Block Unemployment Extension, Putting American Families At Risk

Due to Republican obstructionism, legislation to provide millions of families with emergency relief has been blocked in the Senate after it passed unanimously in the House.

The bill includes a 30-day extension of a range of programs that expired last night, including unemployment insurance, help for unemployed workers in paying for health care (COBRA), small business loan guarantees, the highway bill, and flood insurance. It also delays cuts in Medicare physician payments to make sure that seniors have reliable access to their doctors.

Due to the Republican filibuster, nearly 1.2 million out-of-work Americans, including 14,000 in Senator Bunning’s home state of Kentucky, become ineligible for federal unemployment insurance this week. Millions more will lose their unemployment insurance at the end of this month if Republican obstruction continues.

This Republican ploy is also stopping $925 million in highway reimbursements and transit grants to states this week – endangering more than 32,000 jobs at the start of the construction season. In addition, some 47 million elderly Americans enrolled in Medicare could lose access to their doctors due to the cut in Medicare physician payments.