Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke reaffirmed her support for an extension of unemployment benefits. On December 28, 2013, the benefits for 1.3 million Americans expired – a number that includes 110,000 people in New York State. Every week, the benefits for another 72,000 people expire – about one person every eight seconds.   

“The delay in renewing extended unemployment benefits has resulted in serious problems for millions of families and children who are unable to afford even the basic necessities,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who with dozens of her colleagues asked the Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner to cancel a scheduled district work period (when members of Congress return to their districts to work directly with constituents) until unemployment benefits had been extended. “Even as the economy has entered into recovery, there are millions of people whose efforts to find work have been unsuccessful. These men and women want to work. We should support their efforts to re-enter the job market.”

Congresswoman Clarke continued: “We must keep focus on this critical issue – critical both to the workers who cannot find jobs and to our economy as a whole. As negotiations continue, Congress should listen to the voices of the many people we represent.” 

U.S. Representative Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the House Committee on Small Business, Ethics, and Homeland Security, where she is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.