Statement by President Barack Obama on Senate Vote for Cloture on Unemployment Insurance Extension

Today marks an important step toward passing the unemployment insurance extension which is critical to millions of Americans fighting to find a job, put food on the table and make ends meet during this tough economic time.  After a partisan minority blocked this critical aid to our nation’s families three separate times, the Senate has moved forward on restoring benefits to the 2.5 million Americans whose livelihood has been held hostage by obstruction and game playing over the past weeks.

I will continue to fight for economic policies that will lead us out of this mess, and press Congress to act on more proposals to create new American jobs and strengthen our recovery, including a small business jobs bill, aid for struggling states to prevent layoffs, and tax cuts for middle class families.   Americans who are struggling to find a job and get back on their feet deserve more than the same political game-playing and failed policies that helped cause this recession.  And I thank the members of the Senate who stood on the side of these working families today.