Letter to John Boehner, Speaker of the House - Vote on Bill to Extend Unemployment Insurance For Granite Staters

Letter

Dear Speaker Boehner:

With fewer than ten legislative days remaining before unemployment insurance benefits are set to expire, I write to urge you to immediately allow a vote on legislation that will extend these vital benefits for individuals who are still struggling to find work. As you know, without Congressional action, 1.3 million jobless Americans -- including more than 1,300 individuals in my home state of New Hampshire -- will lose their unemployment insurance benefits just days after Christmas.

Not only would losing these benefits be a painful blow to my constituents who are still struggling to find work, but it would also hurt our economy. Some recent projections have found that allowing the Emergency Unemployment Insurance program to expire would cost our economy more than 300,000 jobs while shaving four-tenths of a percentage point from first quarter economic growth in 2014. That would hurt the long-term unemployed in my district and negatively impact our entire economy.

While our economy has made important progress since the Great Recession, too many people in New Hampshire and across the country are still struggling to find work. Now is not the time to cut off unemployment insurance benefits that are helping these families survive as they search for jobs. I therefore respectfully request that you allow a simple vote on legislation that will protect these benefits and the hardworking families who count on them. With fewer than ten days to act, Congress needs to immediately extend these vital benefits and focus like a laser on creating jobs and opportunity for the middle class.

Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.

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