WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback today said the Senate acted to further extend unemployment aid to workers.

"I am pleased that the Senate passed a bill that will aid many hard working Kansans who recently lost their jobs during the economic downturn," Brownback said. "Today, I was proud to join with my Senate colleagues in passing H.R. 2185, which will extend our current unemployment program for another seven (7) months.

"This extension will provide an additional 13 weeks of federal unemployment benefits to workers who are eligible for the additional 13 week extension. Perhaps most important, this extension will allow workers who are currently under this program to receive full benefits. I am pleased that we were able to extend aid to these hard-working Americans.

"Providing Kansans with the tools necessary to provide for their families is one of my top priorities in the Senate, and I am confident that by extending this program, we will be able to achieve this goal. It is important to note that this recent extension will also provide benefits to those workers who exhaust their regular state unemployment benefits as well. Laid-off workers will have until the week of December 31, 2003, to apply for this extra assistance, which is on top of the 26 weeks of state assistance workers are eligible to receive," Brownback said.

If the Congress had not passed this legislation, those who were eligible for the additional 13 week extension would not have received the full amount of compensation because the program, which was extended in January of this year, expired on May 31, 2003.