US Senate Advances Unemployment Extension Bill
The advancement and passing of the Unemployment Extension Bill was also helped by an unexpected support from Republican Senators from Maine, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. The two seems to have a different view about the bill from the rest of their fellow Republicans.
Meanwhile, one single Democrat Senator also decided to go against his party and voted against the Unemployment Extension Bill. Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska said, "I support extending unemployment benefits for Nebraskans and Americans who remain out of work, however, I opposed the Senate's unemployment bill today because it should have, and it could have, been paid for."
Despite the 60-40 vote in the Senate today, the Unemployment Extension Bill still needs to pass the final senate vote and also a counterpart Unemployment Extension Bill needs to pass the House of Representatives.
The Unemployment Extension Bill if finally passed and signed by President Barack Obama will extend benefits for those who have already used their standard 26 weeks of unemployment. This in turn will be a great help for those who are suffering because of the continuing unemployment problem in the United States.
US President Barack Obama already expressed his strong support for the passage of the Unemployment Extension Bill. "Today marks an important step toward passing the unemployment insurance extension which is critical to millions of Americans fighting to find a job, put food on the table and make ends meet during this tough economic time," Obama said.
