SHAHEEN: BLOCKING UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE IS INEXCUSABLE

(Washington, D.C.) - U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen today issued the following statement denouncing the Republican filibuster, led by Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY), to block a temporary extension of the federal unemployment program, which will expire Sunday.

"For unemployed workers across New Hampshire, unemployment insurance and COBRA benefits provide a lifeline. These critical services are not only important for families struggling to make ends meet, they are also critical to our nation's economic health.

"Because of the obstruction of one Senator, nearly one million Americans will soon lose these benefits, which will surely have a ripple effect throughout our economy.  These jobless Americans will be soon forced to make impossible choices between paying for necessities like groceries, prescriptions drugs, and gasoline, which will affect local businesses.  They will default on paying their bills and won't be able to adequately heat their homes. 

"The political gridlock in Washington must stop.  There is no excuse for blocking a short-term fix to one our nation's most pressing problems while we work on a long-term solution."

Shaheen has co-sponsored two pieces of legislation aimed at ending this type of political gridlock by changing the rules of the Senate so that important, noncontroversial legislation can no longer be held up by a very small minority of Senators, or in this case, by just one Senator.