WASHINGTON: The US Congress yesterday voted to restore jobless benefits for hundreds of thousands of Americans who had lost them during a partisan standoff in the Senate over spending. The House of Representatives voted 289-112 to restore lapsed jobless aid and sent the measure to President Barack Obama, who signed it into law. The Senate had approved it earlier in the day after weeks of delay. With the unemployment rate at 9.7 percent, some 6.1 million Americans rely on jobless benefits to help them pay the bills as they look for work as the economy recovers from the worst recession in 70 years. Those benefits, which average roughly $300 a week, expired for more than 200,000 Americans on April 5 after Republican Senator Tom Coburn blocked a vote shortly before Congress left town on a two-week break. The standoff also has disrupted a federal flood-insurance program, which has held up 1,400 home sales each day in flood-prone areas and slashed emergency loans to small businesses, Democrats said. Health-insurance subsidies for the unemployed and payments to doctors under the Medicare health programme have also been disrupted. Coburn and other Republicans argued that Congress should find a way to pay for the program rather than letting it add to a budget deficit that could hit a record $1.5 trillion this fiscal year. “Our debt and deficits are as much of an emergency as unemployment, yet Congress continues to pretend it can spend and borrow without restraint,” Coburn said in a statement. The Senate voted down Coburn’s proposal to redirect $20bn from other government programmes. Democrats said jobless aid had always been considered emergency spending during times of high unemployment. Three Senate Republicans voted for the bill. In the House, Republicans were divided, with 49 voting for the bill and 112 voting against it. Jobless benefits normally expire after six months, but Congress has extended the program several times during a slump marked by high levels of long-term joblessness. Obama said he was “grateful” that Congress had moved forward on the temporary extension but urged lawmakers to extend the benefits further. “As I requested in my budget, I urge Congress to move quickly to extend these benefits through the end of this year,” Obama said in a statement. “I also urge Congress to move forward on legislation to help small businesses grow and hire and other measures to increase the pace of job growth,” he said. “This is my top priority, and I will fight day and night until every American who wants a good job has one. The bill passed by the Senate would extend benefits through June 2 and apply retroactively to those cut off last week. It would cost $18.2bn, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Democrats have been extending the programme on a month-to-month basis as they work on a longer-term fix. That has given Senate Republicans plenty of opportunity for disruption. REUTERS