House Republicans block longer jobless benefits
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday blocked an effort by Democrats to quickly pass an extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.
Even though a large majority of the House, 279-144, voted for the measure, it fell three votes short of the two-thirds vote needed under special rules for passing the bill, which would have extended jobless benefits for those who exhaust the usual 26 weeks of state benefits.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said the bill will be brought back to the floor on Thursday under rules requiring only a simple majority for passage. If it does pass, the Senate would then consider it.
The vote came just days after the government reported that the U.S. unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in May, its highest level in more than 3-1/2 years.
About four dozen Republicans broke ranks with President George W. Bush and supported the measure amid deepening election-year concerns about the stagnant U.S. economy.
The White House issued a veto warning shortly before the House vote, saying it would instead support an extension of benefits targeted to states with the worst unemployment.
During House debate of the measure, Democrats bemoaned the condition of the economy, with some tying fiscal problems to the war in Iraq, which has cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
"Across America, the unemployment rate is rising. It's over 7 percent in Michigan and above 6 percent in Alaska and a half a dozen other states," said Rep. Jim McDermott, a Washington Democrat.
1.5 MLN LONG-TERM JOBLESS
"Eighteen percent of the unemployed ... have not been able to find a job for at least six months. They have exhausted all their benefits and that's what this bill deals with," he said.
Last month, Democrats in the House and Senate won passage of identical bills to extend unemployment benefits for 13 weeks beyond the current 26-week coverage.
For states with the highest unemployment, a total of 26 additional weeks of aid would be provided under the bills.
Previously, the jobless extension was attached to an Iraq war-funding bill Bush has also threatened to veto.
House Democratic leaders pushed the stand-alone measure on Wednesday, while also leaving open the possibility of keeping it on the war-funding legislation still being negotiated.
U.S. government statistics show 1.55 million unemployed for 27 weeks or more last month, up from 1.35 million in April.
In its statement, the White House said the legislation could remove the incentive for some people to find work. "The counterproductive result of a broad extension of benefits would be that recipients may remain unemployed for slightly longer than they would have otherwise," it said.
Supporters of the legislation note that jobless benefits in many states average $290 a week or less.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated about 3.2 million people would collect the emergency benefits, which would end April 30, 2009, at a cost of $11.7 billion.
The AFL-CIO labor organization said there are now more than two jobless workers searching for every available job.
(Editing by Todd Eastham)
