Pelosi Remarks at Enrollment Ceremony for Bill Extending Unemployment Benefits

WASHINGTON, July 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined senior Members of Congress at an enrollment ceremony in the Capitol this afternoon to sign legislation to extend unemployment insurance to millions of Americans and send it to President Obama for his signature into law. The House passed the bill earlier this afternoon by a vote of 272 to 152; the Senate passed it yesterday evening and the President is expected to sign the legislation later this afternoon. Below are the Speaker's remarks.

"This is going to be a very brief press conference because we don't want any more time to go by before we can send this legislation to help American workers, to the President of the United States for his signature.

"At this enrollment ceremony today, I am pleased to recognize the important work of the Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sandy Levin, Subcommittee Chair Jim McDermott, and all of the Members of the Committee who over time have fought for fairness for America's workers.

"When we passed the legislation on the floor today, it was with some mixed emotions -- certainly happy about the fact that the Senate had sent us back an amendment that would provide unemployment insurance benefits for Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, who played by the rules, and are in need of this help.

"We pointed out, all of us at the time, that the record shows that more than one and a half million jobs are produced because of the unemployment insurance. That's because people get these checks, need the money for necessities, they spend it immediately, it injects demand into the economy, and it creates jobs. The disappointing side of it is that the amendment to the amendment did not include Buy America Bonds, did not include summer jobs or youth jobs, did not include a number of jobs initiatives that we had in there, and did not include concurrent receipt -- which is a term that you may not be familiar with unless you are a veteran, especially a disabled veteran. Concurrent receipt, otherwise known as the veterans disability tax, is something that we had in the bill, relief for the veterans that was paid for. And the Republicans said, 'no.'

"Again, I want to praise the Chairman for working so hard to take some of these issues, perhaps, to another bill, hopefully that the Republicans in the Senate can find it in their hearts to support -- all of it paid for, not increasing the deficit, but in the interest of growing the economy, reducing the deficit, creating jobs.

"And now I have the privilege to sign this legislation, which America's workers had to wait too long for this -- seven weeks is it, Mr. Levin? That they've been debating this over there -- resisting the bill because they said it wasn't paid for. It cost $34 billion; they insisted that that be paid for, while at the same time they were calling for tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America -- $700 billion unpaid for. Inconsistent -- that's the politest word I can think of to describe that.

"So as I say, usually we sign our legislation with unqualified enthusiasm. Today I sign it for what is in it, disappointed for what is not, determined to work to make sure that we can have jobs legislation passed by the House and the Senate and calling upon the Republicans in the Senate to stop their obstruction.

"In that spirit of we must do more to create jobs for the American people, we must create jobs to grow the economy, to reduce the deficit -- I'm now pleased to sign the unemployment insurance legislation."

SOURCE Office of the Speaker of the House