WASHINGTON, DC—Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today issued the following statement following reports that new unemployment insurance claims have reached a 26-year high:

“Today’s report is only the most recent and dire indication that the recession is growing deeper and spreading further in the face of inaction. With 573,000 more American workers seeking unemployment insurance this past week, delay and half measures can no longer be a policy response. On top of a financial crisis that has only begun to hit American families, a housing market still reeling from plummeting values and record mortgage defaults and foreclosures, and the highest unemployment rate in 15 years, we cannot allow one of the largest job engines in our economy to fail. The bill on the Senate floor to stabilize our American automakers will give this critical sector of our economy and the millions of American jobs dependant on it a much better chance to weather this current recession and return to profitability. These unemployment numbers make it clearer than ever that now is the time to act, and I urge Congress to stand up for American workers, our economy and our middle class and pass this bill.”

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