21,000 veterans lost their unemployment benefits

When it comes to politics, I stay out of it unless it involves our veterans. This is about them!

Kathie -

On December 28th of last year, over 21,000 veterans lost their unemployment benefits -- and every month Congress delays action to extend them, another 3,000 join their ranks.

These people aren't lazy. They are hard working, job-seeking Americans who desperately need a bridge to their next paycheck.

They're people like Kevin Tierney, a Vietnam Era veteran from Smithboro, NY. Kevin has applied for well over 100 jobs since the college he worked for as a security guard let him go. His unemployment benefits helped keep his family's head "just above water," but now finds himself deciding between what bills to pay since losing his insurance in December.

His letter to VoteVets concluded, "Every day I wake up is a struggle with despairing, after working hard my whole life and raising a family are we going to be homeless? In my wildest dreams I never thought it would come to this. I know we are not alone in this terrible predicament but I feel very much alone."

Kevin isn't alone. Over 30,000 individuals signed VoteVets' petition calling on Congress to extend unemployment benefits for the families like his. Add your name to theirs today.

In my state of Hawaii, almost 6,000 people will be without benefits if Congress doesn't act in the first half of 2014.

Extending these benefits should be a no-brainer; not only do they provide a floor for struggling families, but they stimulate the economy by putting money in the pockets of people who will spend it in our communities.

People like Lori from Enfield, CT who trained as a medical assistant after receiving an honorable discharge from the Marine Corps. She was laid off the Saturday before Easter last year and lost her benefits in December. That left her family with $50 a week to feed five people. She can't afford the healthy food they used to get, "only the cheap junk to fill our bellies."

Yet Congress continues to ignore her plea for help. Stand with Lori - add your name to VoteVets' petition before this issue comes up for a vote again.

http://action.votevets.org/unemployment-benefits

I've co-sponsored legislation to extend expiring unemployment benefits in the past, and I won't stop fighting for these families until we extend them again.

Thanks for being a part of this fight,

Tulsi Gabbard
Congresswoman, Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District