Statement of Rep. Bill Owens on the Senate’s Failure to Extend Unemployment Insurance

WASHINGTON - Congressman Bill Owens today released the following statement in regard to the almost 50,000 New Yorkers that will fall off Unemployment Insurance next week because of the U.S. Senate’s failure to pass an extension prior to a two-week recess period in observance of Passover and Easter. Last week, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) blocked efforts to vote on a one month extension of jobless benefits. Without the extension, benefits are set to expire next Monday, April 5.

“It is disappointing to see the actions of one Senator stand in the way of benefits for tens of thousands of unemployed New Yorkers,” Owens said. “It is unacceptable that partisan politics are standing in the way of hard-working families. Upstate New Yorkers are concerned with paying their bills and putting food on the table, not who scores the most political points in Washington. I strongly urge the Senate to act quickly to extend these benefits to those who need it the most.”

Also included in the bill that was set to extend benefits for the jobless of Upstate New York was the extension of COBRA healthcare subsidies for the unemployed, the prevention of cuts to scheduled Medicare payments to doctors, and a DTV provision that would allow rural residents to view network television.