CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A two-month extension in federal support for extended unemployment insurance is about to expire. Religious and community groups want Congress to continue the benefits without putting new requirements on the jobless. However, leaders in the House of Representatives want continued funding tied to mandatory drug testing and work training for non-high school graduates.



Unemployed electrician Paul Monroe says jobless people are not lazy, untrained or on drugs. He says there's just not enough work.



"I was 45 years old before I even drew my first unemployment. I'm ready to go to work. I want to work."



Several Republican political leaders have said the jobless would be more likely to find work if their benefits were cut off. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, there are about four unemployed people for every job opening.



The most recent unemployment figure for West Virginia was 7.9 percent - slightly below the national average.



Some religious leaders say requiring drug testing for unemployment benefits is judgmental and a mistake. Cody Ford, executive director of the West Virginia Council of Churches, calls it "false morality" to blame the jobless for the lack of work.



"That leads to things like requiring drug tests, even in the face of evidence that says mandatory drug testing is outrageously expensive and produces very little good."



According to Ford, Florida found that only 2 percent of welfare recipients failed their required drug tests. He says the testing actually cost more than the state saved by denying the benefits.



Without the federal support, benefits for 2.8 million Americans would be cut off.



Monroe says if it weren't for his unemployment benefits, he could not pay for his medicines or his family's groceries. It's also the only way he can continue to pay on a mortgage he is only three years from paying off, he adds.



"If I didn't have unemployment, where would I be? I would lose all that equity. I've been paying on it for over 15 years now. Three years sounds close, but it's far away."

