Washington is looking forward to January, when a new Congress will be seated and President Obama will be sworn in for a second term. But that doesn't mean there's nothing going on in December.

On Capitol Hill, of course, the main focus is the so-called fiscal cliff, the set of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that are set to take effect in January unless Congress strikes a deal averting them.

But there's one aspect of the fiscal debate that hasn't gotten as much attention: unemployment insurance.

Two federally funded emergency unemployment insurance programs are also set to expire at the end of the year. According to a group of Democratic senators that held a press conference this week, some 2 million people would be cut off from benefits unless Congress extends the programs again.

"This is the real cliff," said Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.). Reed, along with Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) repeatedly emphasized the economic benefits of UI, citing studies which found that jobless workers who receive benefits spend the money they receive, thus increasing spending and growing demand.

As Congress and the White House negotiate a fiscal cliff deal, another extension of emergency UI must be part of the package, the senators said. Reed said that while nothing specific has been proposed, the group of senators just wanted to "make sure this issue is on the table."

UI has repeatedly been extended since the onset of the recession. The next couple weeks will be crucial in determining whether that happens again.

Meanwhile, many observers expect an immigration overhaul to be one of the biggest legislative priorities of the new Congress. We got a preview of the coming debate this week, when the House passed a bill related to visas for high-skill foreign workers, but the measure failed to advance in the Senate.

The STEM Jobs Act would allocate 55,000 visas for foreign graduates of U.S. universities in science and technology fields, but would also eliminate the current diversity visa lottery system. Republicans largely supported the bill, but most Democrats and various other groups characterized the bill as sending the wrong message, namely that some immigrants were more valuable than others.

If the lame-duck session is any indication, the first few months of 2013 are sure to be an interesting time in Congress.