Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) called for unemployment benefits to be distributed to “working men and women” during a speech on the House floor Thursday.
“Let us vote to provide for unemployment insurance for working men and women so that faces across America will not have the tear of desperation on their face,” she said, adding “we cannot allow this to happen this season of joy and giving.”
Lee, who has served in Congress since 1995, justified her suggestion by noting that TIME magazine had just named Pope Francis as man of the year.
“So we can’t be only about our self in this holiday season, particularly as we recognize that the Pope being made man of the year has spoken to the world eloquently about this whole issue of the vulnerable,” she said.