Georgia Senators cosponsor bill extending veteran and unemployment benefits – Atlanta Political Buzz | Examiner.com

On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, both Republicans from Georgia, signed on as cosponsors of an amendment to extend the unemployment benefits by three months and to stop pension cuts of military retirees and disabled military retirees.

The Ayotte Amendment #2603, introduced also on Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), pays for the military benefits and three-month extension of unemployment by altering the U.S. tax code to ensure that illegal immigrants can’t claim the Additional Child Tax Credit.

This tax code oversight, according to the Senators’ statements, would cost the tax payers $20 billion over the next 10 years. The amendment would require filers to provide Social Security numbers in order to take advantage of the credit.

The military retiree benefits were cut by $6.3 billion as a result of the December budget agreement that reduced the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) program.

“This issue needs to be fixed,” said Chambliss, vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and member of the Armed Services Committee. “It is just not fair to single out those men and women out who put their life in harm’s way to protect America. We can fix it, and we can fix it in the right way. Senator Ayotte has come up with a great pay-for, that’s an all-American pay-for.”

via Georgia Senators cosponsor bill extending veteran and unemployment benefits – Atlanta Political Buzz | Examiner.com.