House votes to extend unemployment benefits
>From Ted Barrett
CNN Feb 5, 2004
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Thirty-nine Republicans crossed party lines to join Democrats in approving a six-month extension of unemployment benefits to about 375,000 people whose regular benefits have run out.
But passage may be little more than symbolic because opposition from GOP leaders is expected to prevent the measure from ever becoming law, which means unemployed workers are unlikely to receive the benefits, lawmakers from both parties predicted.
Democrats hailed the vote to extend the temporary federal unemployment insurance benefits, which was attached to an unrelated bill dealing with community block grants, as evidence there is majority support in the GOP-controlled House for the extension -- an issue Democrats have pushed for months.
But House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, dismissed the vote as a "clever political stunt" designed to give the Democrats fodder for the campaign season.
"Sometimes people vote for political reasons," DeLay said about the GOP defections. "It's more important to provide jobs than unemployment."
A Republican aide said the extension is not needed because the economy is improving and the unemployment rate is down.
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