Republicans Again Block Unemployment Extension -- This Time In The House

Republicans on Capitol Hill once again stood in the way of Democrats attempting to pass an extension of unemployment benefits for jobless Americans. The only difference on Tuesday is that this time it was the House GOP blocking the legislation.

Senate Republicans repeatedly have filibustered an overall tax and jobs bill, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, that contains a provision to extend supplemental income assistance to unemployed Americans.

Because of Republican obstruction, 1.7 million out-of-work Americans are set to lose their unemployment benefits as of July 3, so House Democrats decided to attempt to approve the unemployment insurance extension as a stand-alone bill in hopes that, at least, could get past a Senate filibuster.

Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine has written Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to seek such a stand-alone bill to extend unemployment benefits.

But House Democrats were blocked when they tried to pass H.R. 5818, the Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act, on a voice vote. That means Democrats will have seek a roll-call vote, which could happen Wednesday, according to a blog post by a progressive advocacy organization.

House Democrats released a state-by-state breakdown (PDF) of the numbers of jobless Americans who have either already lost their benefits, or are set to.

"Republicans in Congress are clearly more focused on their short-term political standing than the immediate economic security of millions of Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and are unable to find work,” says Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. “While today’s vote is deeply disappointing, it is not altogether surprising given how Republicans have increasingly voted in lock-step against all measures to create jobs, strengthen our economic recovery and help the unemployed.

“We will persevere,” Levin adds. “We will bring this bill up again under regular order and it will pass. Today’s vote should make it abundantly clear to the American people that the Democratic majority in Congress remains committed to providing the benefits and assistance families need while we continue efforts to recover from this recession.”

The national unemployment rate stands at a decades-high 9.7 percent, with five or six Americans standing in line for every one available job opening.

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