Aid for jobless, homebuyers clears U.S. Congress

By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress approved more aid for jobless workers and broadened tax breaks for homebuyers and businesses on Thursday and sent the measure to President Barack Obama to sign into law.

The measure, which aims to breathe life into the ailing U.S. economy, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 403 to 12, one day after it was unanimously approved by the Senate.

Democrats who control Congress are under pressure to get the economy moving before the November 2010 congressional elections. But they have been reluctant to assemble another massive stimulus package after February's $787 billion measure, fearing a voter backlash over record federal budget deficits.

Instead, they opted for a smaller package that broadens several existing measures without adding to the deficit.

The House had approved additional jobless benefits in September, but the measure languished in the Senate for weeks while lawmakers there bickered over unrelated provisions.

In the meantime, some 600,000 jobless workers stopped getting the weekly checks that help them pay their bills while they look for work.

"This is the right thing to do, and we shouldn't have waited so long to do it," said Democratic Representative Jim McDermott, the bill's original sponsor.

The payments usually expire after six months but Congress has already extended them twice in a severe recession that has been marked by a high number of long-term unemployed.