Senators from opposite ends of the country on Monday made a final push to extend federal unemployment benefits for more than 1.3 million long-term jobless workers whose benefits ran out Jan. 1.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.) co-sponsored the legislation, which has backing from the White House but has met resistance from Senate Republicans, who are balking at the estimated $6.5 billion that the three-month extension would cost.

"I hope this sensible and bipartisan approach will provide a path forward to preserving the program through the entire 2014 calendar year, which will give families and our economy time to recover," Reed said in a statement announcing the legislation. "Because, frankly, this is a program designed to be there for every worker should the unfortunate happen and they find themselves without a job through no fault of their own."

Heller, whose state has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 9 percent, is the lone Republican in the Senate who has publicly voiced support for the measure.

"As Nevada's unemployment rate continues to top the charts nationwide, many families and individuals back home do not know how they are going to meet their basic needs," Heller said in the statement. "Providing a safety net for those in need is one of the most important functions of the federal government."

National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling said Monday that the loss of federal unemployment benefits was "an urgent situation," following up on a New Year's Day address that called for the passage of the Senate legislation.

"Failing to extend unemployment insurance through 2014 will negatively impact 14 million Americans - the 4.9 million workers who will see unemployment insurance cut off, and the approximately 9 million additional family members they are supporting," Sperling said in a statement. "But if Congress does the right thing and acts to extend emergency unemployment benefits through 2014, it is estimated to lead to 200,000 jobs and a fifth of a point of additional economic growth."

Heller and Reed said a study from the Council of Economic Advisers and the Department of Labor estimated that a failure to extend benefits could cost the economy 240,000 jobs in 2014, including 1,284 jobs in Rhode Island and 2,953 jobs in Nevada.