WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Wednesday he will try to hold Congress hostage for Christmas if jobless benefits are not extended for out-of-work Americans.
"Let me just put it this way: There will be no Christmas for Congress unless there is an extension of the unemployment insurance benefits," Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said at a news conference attended by other House and Senate Democrats, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and numerous unemployed workers.
"Believe me, we have a number of us on the Senate side. We're not going home. We're not going to have Christmas for Congress until you get an extension of unemployment benefits."
Roll Call reported Republican leaders have said they favor an extension as long as the cost is offset by cuts elsewhere. But there has been no bipartisan solution found to accomplish that, the Washington publication said.
"We Republicans do care about people that are out of work," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., told reporters Wednesday.
Harkin could keep the Democrat-controlled Senate in Washington by demanding a vote on adjournment. It would take a majority vote to get the senators out the Capitol doors and on their way to their holiday vacation.
Usually when Congress adjourns or goes into recess it is by unanimous consent without a vote.
