Unemployed workers may face another bleak holiday unless Congress passes legislation extending benefits.

The economy may be doing better, but unemployment remains high. For those who can't find a job, the economic upturn is no consolation. The federal-extended-benefits program will expire Dec. 31. Four million workers have exhausted their benefits without finding work. Last year, around the same time, Congress left town before passing an extension of benefits, causing unemployment checks to stop for many during the holidays.

Currently, there are two competing proposals to extend these benefits, one by congressional Democrats and the other by House Republicans.

In both the House and Senate, Democrats have put forth legislation to continue the program through December 2004, which includes a provision to expand the program to provide a minimum of 26 weeks of benefits (with seven additional weeks of benefits in 18 "high unemployment" states). The House Republican legislation would continue the extension through June 2004 without adding any weeks of federal extended benefits. According to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), it would help an estimated 2.4 million fewer workers than Democratic proposals.

See the NELP?s special website, "Laid Off and Left Out," for more information, to sign a letter from unemployed workers to President Bush, or to participate in a "worker forum" to share your experiences or read other people's comments.