WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Monday, the Senate passed the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Extension Act by a vote of 59 to 38, which retroactively extends emergency unemployment insurance through the end of May. Congressman Lynch released the following statement on passage of this bipartisan legislation to extend unemployment insurance:

“Over two million Americans, including 200,000 veterans, have lost their unemployment insurance since the program expired at the end of last year. In Massachusetts alone, 79,777 people have lost their unemployment insurance. I commend my colleagues in the Senate for their bipartisan work on this important issue for the American people.”

“These benefits are a critical economic lifeline for the countless men and women who have lost their jobs,” Lynch continued. “I am committed to ensuring that hard-working American men and women receive these benefits. That is why I am proud to sign on to a letter urging Speaker Boehner to take immediate action and bring this Senate bill to the House Floor for a vote.”

Congressman Lynch has joined 192 other House Democrats in signing a discharge petition to hold a vote on extending unemployment insurance. The discharge petition will require the House to consider the unemployment insurance extension legislation once a majority of Members of Congress (218) have signed the petition.

In March, Congressman Lynch also joined with 161 House Democrats in sending a letter to Speaker John Boehner urging an up-or-down vote on unemployment insurance extension to help jobless veterans after a report released by Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that close to 200,000 veterans are among those who have lost their UI benefits.