***Click Here to Download Audio from Today’s Press Conference Call***

Washington DC – On the heels of a difficult fight in the Senate to overcome Republican objections to extending unemployment benefits for millions of struggling Americans, U.S. Representatives Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH11), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH10), and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH9) joined with the group, Americans United For Change in a press conference call today. They urged their Senate colleagues to now get to the business of passing a robust jobs bill that helps ease the burden on states facing difficult budget shortfalls.  According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, if Congress does not extend provisions of last year’s Recovery Act, the economy will lose 900,000 public-and private-sector jobs. 

Representatives Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH11):“Ending cloture on the unemployment extension in the Senate was pivotal, not only for Northeast Ohioans struggling to find work, but for all Americans who expect their elected officials to act in good faith and address our jobs crisis. Soon these Senators will have a chance to prove they really care about the deficit – and not about scoring cheap political points on the backs of the unemployed.  The Senate is poised to consider a jobs bill that will keep teachers in their classrooms, police on the beat and nurses on the job. These provisions are fully paid for by closing tax loopholes that benefit only a select few Americans. Of course, creating and maintaining jobs and rebuilding the tax base is the best way to reduce our deficit. As such, there is no reason any Senator should stand in the way of this job-creation legislation. I challenge the Senate to offer their support, or at least get out of the way.”

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH9): “Blocking unemployment benefits to the more than 100,000 Ohio families, who have lost their livelihoods through no fault of their own, is just plain cruel.  The workers in our community have earned their benefits, which are essential as our economy transitions to producing more private sector jobs and digging ourselves out of the massive hole that the last President left this President.”

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH10): “According to a recent study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, if the economy started creating jobs right now at a pace equal to the growth we saw earlier in the 2000s, it will still take over four years just to get back to pre-recession employment levels. A more realistic prediction suggests it will take a decade. We must recommit to American manufacturing; we need a coordinated federal policy that puts the manufacturing sector back in its rightful place as an engine of the American economy and reasserts the preeminence of the American steel, automotive and aerospace industries.”

Dan Ramos, Legislative Liaison, SEIU District 1199: “From our perspective this choice is simple.  Government must invest in working families to secure the future not only for our immediate economic needs, but for those of future generations to come.  Bold legislation that supports working families is critically essential in closing the budget deficit and securing the nation’s economic future for all Americans. Legislation is needed close local government and school district budget gaps so public employees and school staff that deliver needed public goods can maintain their jobs.  Legislation must be passed that invests in work force development that retrains skilled working women and men to be competitive in a 21st century economy and finally we must pass legislation that closes tax loopholes and rebalances the tax burden so that the middle class is not left on the hook for this recession and our mounting national deficit.” 

Jeremy Funk, Americans United for Change: “To the Senate Republicans that stood in the way of basic unemployment assistance for those suffering worse in the Bush recession: get your priorities straight and take some responsibility for enabling the failed economic policies that cost these Americans their jobs in the first place.  Many of these same Senators no problems bailing out the Wall Street banks, and many of these same Senators are now demanding an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich that never managed to ‘trickle-down’ to anyone else.  One thing is for sure: if Senate Republicans continue to stand in the way of Democratic efforts in Congress to jumpstart this economy, they will only have themselves to blame when more cops and teachers lose their jobs and our economy falls back into a recession.”