NASHVILLE – Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said he was disappointed that U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker chose to vote against an extension of unemployment insurance for nearly 34,000 out-of work Tennesseans and almost $11 million in road projects for the state.

The two Tennessee Republicans voted Tuesday night against a temporary measure to extend federal unemployment benefits for a workforce that has lost more than 8 million jobs since the recession began at the end of 2007. The measure passed, but had it failed, nearly 34,000 unemployed Tennesseans would have exhausted their benefits by the end of the month, analysts noted.

“I do not understand why Mr. Alexander and Mr. Corker turned their backs on Tennessee families struggling to make ends meet in an economy that was put in a ditch by the failed policies of a previous Republican White House,” Forrester said.

“Too many Republicans in Washington are playing partisan games by saying ‘no’ to every piece of legislation sponsored by Democrats or this White House. It’s fine to have disagreements over policies, but simply refusing to vote for a piece of legislation to score cheap political points is inexcusable.”

Not only did Alexander and Corker vote against extending unemployment benefits for Tennesseans, they also voted against a 30-day extension of the highway trust fund, which is being used to help pay for Tennessee road projects at Cades Cove Loop Road, Shiloh National Park and Catoosa Wildlife Management Area.

The federal Department of Transportation furloughed 2,000 workers on Monday after the bill temporarily extending unemployment benefits and federal highway programs was held up last week by Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, who finally relented Tuesday night and allowed a vote.

Through measures enacted in the Recovery Act, states were able to extend unemployment benefits for people exhausting their regular jobless benefits. The federal funding, however, expired on Sunday, Feb. 28, which halted the disbursement of $768 million in highway trust funds and jeopardized unemployment benefits to more than 1 million jobless Americans.

“As we face the most serious slowdown we have experienced since the Great Depression, it baffles me to see our friends over on the Republican side stoop to such petty and partisan politics,” Forrester said. “Too much is at stake here.

“Our nation and our state cannot afford this kind of obstruction. I would ask Mr. Alexander and Mr. Corker to set aside their differences with our president and work with the Tennessee Democrats serving in Congress to get people back to work and this economy going again,” he added.