Search
|
REP. DEGETTE, HOUSE DEMOCRATS PREVAIL ON AIRLINE WORKER AID DESPITE GOP OPPOSITION
Tuesday April 08, 2003FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 8, 2003
Contact: Josh Freed
(202) 225-4431
Proposal Urging Assistance for Workers Overcomes White House, House Leadership Efforts
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) and House Democrats overcame stiff resistance from President Bush and the House Republican leadership on the floor today to pass a motion calling on the conference committee of the wartime supplemental spending bill to include a 26-week extension of unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of laid-off airline workers.
“With the airline industry hit by the triple whammy of recession, war and SARS, flight schedules have been slashed and thousands of jobs have been lost,” said Rep. DeGette. “These jobs are not going to come back in a month or even 12 weeks. We should provide assistance to both the ailing airline industry and to the workers who have been laid off because of the decline in air travel. Extending unemployment benefits for airline workers would do just that.”
The motion urges the conference committee to provide up to $275 million in assistance to unemployed airline workers previously included in the Senate-approved wartime spending bill. The House-passed version of the wartime spending plan included $3.1 billion for the airline industry, but absolutely no money for laid-off workers. Just this morning, President Bush announced his opposition to the unemployment extension, calling the Democratic provision “objectionable” in a Statement of Administration Policy.
“Putting money back into the pockets of working Coloradoans is exactly the stimulus that our suffering economy needs,” said Rep. DeGette. “The extended unemployment benefits these former airline employees will receive will go directly back into our economy through rent and mortgage payments, grocery bills, and other spending.”
The Democrats “motion to instruct conferees” passed by a 265-150 margin, with only Reps. DeGette and Udall from the Colorado delegation supporting the proposal. The debate over the airline worker issue and the entire supplemental will continue on Wednesday when the full Conference Committee meets for the first time.
###
April 8, 2003
Contact: Josh Freed
(202) 225-4431
Proposal Urging Assistance for Workers Overcomes White House, House Leadership Efforts
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) and House Democrats overcame stiff resistance from President Bush and the House Republican leadership on the floor today to pass a motion calling on the conference committee of the wartime supplemental spending bill to include a 26-week extension of unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of laid-off airline workers.
“With the airline industry hit by the triple whammy of recession, war and SARS, flight schedules have been slashed and thousands of jobs have been lost,” said Rep. DeGette. “These jobs are not going to come back in a month or even 12 weeks. We should provide assistance to both the ailing airline industry and to the workers who have been laid off because of the decline in air travel. Extending unemployment benefits for airline workers would do just that.”
The motion urges the conference committee to provide up to $275 million in assistance to unemployed airline workers previously included in the Senate-approved wartime spending bill. The House-passed version of the wartime spending plan included $3.1 billion for the airline industry, but absolutely no money for laid-off workers. Just this morning, President Bush announced his opposition to the unemployment extension, calling the Democratic provision “objectionable” in a Statement of Administration Policy.
“Putting money back into the pockets of working Coloradoans is exactly the stimulus that our suffering economy needs,” said Rep. DeGette. “The extended unemployment benefits these former airline employees will receive will go directly back into our economy through rent and mortgage payments, grocery bills, and other spending.”
The Democrats “motion to instruct conferees” passed by a 265-150 margin, with only Reps. DeGette and Udall from the Colorado delegation supporting the proposal. The debate over the airline worker issue and the entire supplemental will continue on Wednesday when the full Conference Committee meets for the first time.
###