HuffPo: Out Of 400 Amendments, Just One For The Jobless

[True_Blue]

"Of the 403 amendments submitted to a stopgap budget measure to fund the government through the rest of the current fiscal year, only one mentions the word "unemployment."

Legislation by Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Bobby Scott (R-Va.) would provide an additional 14 weeks of benefits to Americans who have been out of work for six months or longer. Lee and Scott asked Republican leaders to consider the measure as an amendment to their "continuing resolution," the budget measure that funds the government through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

Many of the 400 amendments will be pulled, but if the Lee-Scott item is deemed germane by the Rules Committee, it will see a vote on the House floor.

In a vote, however, Republicans would probably defeat the amendment, which would add roughly $16 billion to the budget deficit. Lee has said she will look for ways to offset the cost of the bill if Republicans block it because of its deficit impact, but in a letter to Republican leaders on Tuesday, Lee and Scott asked for an emergency designation that would exempt the bill from pay-as-you-go."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/15/budget-long-term-unemployed_n_823599.html