US Senator Dick Durbin says 800,000 unemployed people in Illinois can’t afford to not have the federal government provide them an extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits.

He met with people out of work in Chicago last week and says everyone he talked too would face hard decisions about what to do and how to move forward without the enhanced benefits. Durbin says for one family with a newborn the choices aren’t going to be easy.

Democrats in Washington want to keep the enhanced benefit at $600 a week and Republicans want to trim the amount to $200 a week.