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Kerry, Kirk laud jobless benefits

E-mail|Link|Comments () Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor November 4, 2009 06:45 PM

Senators John F. Kerry and Paul G. Kirk Jr. praised the passage this afternoon of extended unemployment benefits expected to help as many as 40,000 Massachusetts residents.

The two Bay State senators had written top Senate Democrat last month urging him to bring the bill to the floor as quickly as possible, before the benefits ended. More information on the benefits is available here.

“Families across Massachusetts are hurting,” Kirk said in a statement. “With the unemployment rate unacceptably high and the winter months approaching, impossible decisions about whether to turn on the heat or put food on the table loom in many households in the Commonwealth. Passage of the Unemployment Insurance benefits extension will provide greater hope to those who continue to search for work during these harsh economic times.”

“This extension of a critical safety net will make it easier for families across Massachusetts to hang on in the toughest economy since the Great Depression,” Kerry added. “I am pleased that my Senate colleagues have joined Senator Kirk and I in recognizing the urgent need to protect our families.”

tags John Kerry, Paul Kirk, unemployment

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