Obama Says Republicans Holding Unemployed Hostage to Politics

19 July 2010

President Obama makes a statement to the press in the White House Rose Garden, beside him are unemployed workers Denise Gibson, Jim Chukalas, and Leslie Macko, 19 July 2010

Three times in recent weeks, Republicans have used parliamentary tactics in the Senate to block the extension of benefits, angering the president at a time when he is trying to move this and other legislation through Congress before the congressional recess.

The White House has declared the unemployment bill an emergency measure, meaning it does not have to be offset by spending cuts in other areas of the federal budget.

Republicans have taken aim at that, as they continue to attack Mr. Obama on several fronts and challenge the White House over deficit spending and rising debt.

Addressing media in the White House Rose Garden, the president said Republicans who had for years supported policies that turned big surpluses into deficits had no place blocking aid for Americans desperately searching for work.

"It is time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to Washington politics," he said. "It is time to do what is right, not for the next election, but for the middle class."

Joining the president at the podium were three unemployed Americans - a former auto dealership parts manager, a former fitness center employee and a former real estate agent - whose government support has run out or is about to expire.