The 780,000 jobless workers who saw their unemployment benefits disappear three days after Christmas are closer to seeing those checks in their mailboxes again after the U.S. Senate on Jan. 7 and the House of Representatives on Jan. 8 passed legislation restoring the emergency benefit program. But congressional Republicans refused to include another 1 million workers who have exhausted both their normal unemployment benefits and those under the emergency program.

The bill, signed by President George W. Bush the same day, provides an additional 13 weeks of federal unemployment benefits to workers who exhaust their normal 26 weeks of state benefits and reaches back to include those who have not used up their 13 weeks due under the expired program. But under the terms of the legislation, the emergency benefit program will expire June 1. 

Before the Senate vote, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) offered an amendment that would have included those 1 million jobless workers who already have run out of benefits under both state and federal programs. But Republicans blocked the amendment.

In the House, Democrats sought to offer a bill that included the 1 million workers left out of the Senate legislation and to provide the jobless with 26 weeks of benefits. That move failed 202-224.

“Passage of this bill, as important as it is, will leave many, many people without any means of support going forward and we must turn our attention to those people who have exhausted their benefits,” Clinton said.

“The refusal of congressional Republicans to increase the duration of emergency benefits in order to cover individuals who have exhausted both regular and emergency benefits turns a cold shoulder to jobless workers who have been unemployed longest and suffered most during the downturn,” said AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney.

The fight over help for the jobless heated up in November 2002, when House leaders refused to allow a vote on extending benefits beyond a five-week extension for just a handful of states. But in December, with gloomy economic forecasts and rising unemployment in the headlines, President Bush admitted in remarks that Congress had made a mistake in not passing an extension. Bush, however, did not pressure leaders to return to Washington for a special session before the holidays to deal with the benefits crisis.

“Despite the grim realities of the desperate job situation for more than 8 million people looking for work, the Republican-led House of Representatives and President Bush let the emergency program expire three days after Christmas,” said Sweeney.

A recent study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said extending unemployment benefits “would provide a ‘greater bang for the buck’ than competing economic stimulus proposals,” such as tax cuts.

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Learn more about the AFL-CIO’s Agenda to Create Jobs and Lift the Economy.

Check out the resources for surviving unemployment.

Find out more on Issues & Politics.

Check the Bush administration record in BushWatch.