Blog Post

The House has just passed the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act, H.R. 5749, by a veto-proof margin of 274-137 after Republicans blocked the legislation yesterday.

Washington, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today after House Republicans defeated legislation that would have aided workers who have lost their jobs as a result of an economy on the brink of recession. The Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act, legislation that would have immediately provided up to 13 weeks of extended unemployment benefits to jobless workers in every state, received a 279 to 144 vote, short of the two-thirds necessary under suspension of the rules.

Today the Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on bipartisan legislation that would help strengthen American families and help more children arrive at school ready to succeed by expanding access to early childhood home visitation programs for parents and children.

The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming is currently holding a hearing, "The Future of Oil - Peak Prices, Peak Production, Piqued Consumers." Witnesses will be Guy Caruso, Administrator of the Energy Information Administration; Adam Sieminski, Chief Energy Economist at Deutsche Bank; Amy Myers Jaffe, Energy Studies Fellow at the James Baker Institute for Public Policy; and Athan Manuel, Director of Land Protection Programs for the Sierra Club.

Senator McCain's statement that it is 'not too important' when U.S. troops are redeployed from Iraq is yet another indication how out of touch he is with the effect the war in Iraq is having on the readiness of our military. Addressing the national security implications of the military readiness crisis ought to be considered as extremely important by someone who aspires to be commander in chief.

Exactly 45 years ago today, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, recognizing that the right to equal pay for equal work is a fundamental value.

The Equal Pay Act was a first step in addressing the disparity between what women and men earn, but it must not be the last. Women still earn 77 cents for every dollar men make, and the Supreme Court recently ruled to deny a woman redress after the fact in a case of pay discrimination, contrary to the intent of Congress.

Washington, D.C. -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in response to Senate Republicans blocking consideration of the Consumer-First Energy Act and the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008: