VETERANS JOIN FIGHT TO EXTEND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

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February 10, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - A battle is brewing in Congress over unemployment benefits for veterans.

Long term unemployment for21,000  veterans and many other Americans expired in December and Congress failed to extend these benefits.

Each month, another 3,000 veterans who served our country join the ranks of the unemployed.

 A recent effort by the Senate to extend unemployment benefits for America’s veterans was killed by a Tea Party-led filibuster in the Senate that blocked the measure from coming up for a vote. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has committed to keep bringing this issue to a vote until it passes. But to do so, he’ll need a few more votes to overcome future filibusters. 

“Next time it happens, we're going to be there with hundreds of personal stories from veterans who lost their benefits, and 30,000 supporters who stand ready to take action on their behalf,” says Jon Soltz, and Iraq War veteran and chairman of Vote Vets.org.

 VoteVets has launched a petition calling on Congress to extend unemployment benefits.  So far, over 25,000 veterans, military family members and supporters have signed it.  You can find the petition at their website at  http://action.votevets.org/unemployment-vote



 


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