>> joining me now are democrat congressman peter welsh of vermont and former secretary of labor robert reich, professor at the university of california at berkeley. representative welch, assuming this bill makes further progress in the united states senate, which is not at all certain at this point, what are the prospects of some kind of action in the house of representatives? >> well, it's pretty uphill, because we're having this debate as though extending unemployment benefits is going to solve the problem. what it will do is mitigate the impact on individuals and on the economy, but, in fact, what we should be doing is incorporating a discussion about what job creating policies will help, things like building our infrastructure, best time we can do that is now. it increases employment and demand. second, subsidize job program that was a partnership between republican and democratic governors in the administration and employers that put people to work.