FILE – In this hursday Dec. 26, 2013 file photo, Richard Mattos, 59, looks for jobs at a state-run employment center in Salem, Ore. The Labor Department reports on the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last for the last week of 2013 on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Jonathan J. Cooper, File)
HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama is urging Congress to reinstate jobless benefits for more than a million Americans.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says the unemployment insurance is a “vital economic lifeline” for many people. And he says failure to reinstate the benefits will cause the economy to slow for all Americans.
A bipartisan proposal in the Senate would restore the benefits for three months. Obama says if lawmakers pass the measure, he will sign it.
Obama is due to return from vacation in Hawaii on Sunday.
Mississippi Congressman Gregg Harper delivered the Republican weekly address. He calls on the Senate to pass the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act. It seeks to boost funding for pediatric research at the National Institutes of Health.
The measure passed the House in December.
