Both Senators pressed hard to get their counterparts in the House to pass legislation before breaking for the holidays, but their pleas went unanswered by the Republican-controlled House.
Senator Murray listened intently as 751-member Brandy Wood explained the importance of the extension. After 18 years at Boeing, Brandy Wood suddenly found himself looking for a new career following his layoff last April. As a single parent with a 16 year old daughter and an 18 year old son, he realizes the urgency in obtaining another family-wage job to support himself and his children. Therefore, he is pursuing a two-year mechanical engineering program at Clover Park Technical College.
Brandy noted, "I chose this program because it falls into the same field and enhances my current skills as a machinist. The extended benefits would see me through my retraining program. I have already changed my lifestyle and use about two-thirds of my unemployment just to make my house payment. I got rid of a lot of material things, refinanced my house, and paid-off my truck before I got laid-off."
He uses his canning skills to make his own jellies/jams and cans all kinds of fruits and vegetables from his garden. Out of necessity, Brandy has become a frugal gourmet.
"I cut out going out on weekends
and eat at home to save money. It has brought us together as a
family while we learn to adapt to the new situation. Without extended
benefits, it will be very difficult to complete the retraining
and gain employment in my chosen field. The extension would allow
me to complete the retraining program before having to find full-time
employment, which allows me to concentrate more fully on my studies."Senator Maria Cantwell did her part to get House Republicans moving by holding a press conference at the Seattle Union Hall on Friday, November 22nd.
Cantwell declared, "It would be irresponsible for the House to adjourn without extending unemployment benefits. Cutting off these benefits will deprive our economy of much-needed disposable income and hurt the tens of thousands of Washingtonians who depend on them to pay their bills."
While House Republicans refused to address it during this session, Democrats kept up the pressure to pass the extension.
Representative Rick Larsen noted, "The House Republican leadership made a decision not to bring up legislation that would help those who are hurt most by the economy and did it the day after Boeing announced it would cut 5,000 more jobs."
The fight is not over. Democrats plan to make extension of benefits a priority when they return to work in January. Cantwell noted, "I think the Bush Administration could have expressed a bipartisan effort to get this done."
She added that the federal government extended unemployment benefits five times during the last national recession in the early 1990's under President George Bush Sr.'s administration.