July '10 Nevada Government—U.S. Senator John Ensign Column

Ensign Statement On Passing Of Kenny Guinn

July 22, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign today expressed his shock and sadness at the sudden passing of former Governor Kenny Guinn.

“I am both shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden passing of a true Nevadan, former Governor Kenny Guinn,” said Ensign. “It’s nearly impossible for me to put into words what this one man has meant to me and the people of Nevada. Kenny was greatly admired and respected across Nevada from the rurals of the East to the metropolitan abundance of the South. Kenny was to me a great role model and someone who I worked very closely with –in fact, he has been an inspiration to me through the years beginning with the time that he was the Superintendent of the Clark County School District and he signed my high school diploma. He and Dema served Nevada well as our first family, and they have continued their tireless devotion to philanthropic efforts, such as education, in recent years. My thoughts and prayers are with Dema and their children and all the people across the state who are mourning the loss of a great Nevadan.”

Ensign Votes To Extend Unemployment Benefits

Votes for Republican Bill to Pay for Extension

July 21, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign today voted for the eighth time to pay for extending unemployment benefits for hurting Nevadans. Senate Republicans once again offered legislation to pay for this important extension, and Democrats voted against it.

“This issue of extending unemployment benefits is very simple,” said Ensign. “These benefits need to be extended, no question about it. Republicans want to do this in a responsible way by paying for the cost of this legislation up front with cuts in wasteful government spending. Democrats, however, are refusing to acknowledge this common-sense alternative and would rather carelessly pass the burden of this $30 billion bill onto the future of our country: our children and grandchildren.

“Democrats today voted to ignore the option to pay for these benefits and instead left this huge bill for future generations of Americans to deal with.”

Each time that the Senate has voted on extending unemployment benefits, Republicans have offered alternative legislation which would seek to pay for these benefits now, although this has not been reported in the media. Today, the Senate voted on a measure by Senator Brown (R-MA) that would have retroactively extended emergency unemployment benefits through the end of November, paid with unobligated stimulus funds. This amendment actually cuts more than it spends to reduce the national debt by $7 billion; it was defeated 42-56.

Ensign Addresses Nevada Record Unemployment

July 19, 2010 – Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign today addressed Nevada’s rise to a new level of record-breaking unemployment.

“At the same time that the Administration announces its plans to spend this summer touting the benefits of the stimulus bill, new unemployment numbers for Nevada show that our state is continuing to shed jobs,” said Ensign. “Currently, Nevada is sitting at a record-breaking 14.2% unemployment, a number that truly underlines that the Democrats’ policies for job creation are falling flat across our state.

“It’s incredibly important that we put the focus back on job creation by incentivizing the private sector to actually create jobs which will not happen if they continue to be burdened by new taxes that stem from a growing debt. The stimulus bill has had little effect on our state but has done wonders to increase the size of government in Washington, D.C.”

Nevada’s jobless rate is 14.2% for the month of June, up from 14.1% in May. Las Vegas unemployment has jumped to 14.5%, and 193,000 Nevadans lack employment and are currently looking for work.