Extended Unemployment Benefits

President George H.W. Bush held a news conference during his vacation in Kennebunkport, ME, to announce his intention to sign a bill extending unemployment benefits to people out of work for over six months. He also said he would not declare a state of emergency in the U.S., which would be necessary under the 1990 budget act for the release of the money for the benefits. While the president refused to implement the $5.8 billion extended unemployment benefits bill, he said he would have signed and implemented a $3.2 billion extended unemployment benefits bill sponsored by Senator Robert Dole (R-KS). The president also said anti-abortion protesters in Wichita, KS, who had been blocking access to abortion clinics during the month of July, might actually be hurting their own cause through extremist tactics. He pleaded for protesters to conduct their activities within the law. close