Press Releases

(As prepared for delivery)

I came to this Committee because I believe in the tax code as an engine for change, and I want to be clear: I’m pro-growth, pro-prosperity, and pro-a fair shot, which is exactly what the American people are asking their leaders for right now.

I was struck by this hearing title: “The Need to Extend Trump’s Tax Cuts for Working Families” when we know that most of the cost of extending the GOP Tax Scam actually goes to the top 2 percent. The American people are living under Trump’s tax plan—that’s what they need relief from. 

The American people need lower costs. Republicans want another boondoggle to the richest among us.

In fact, last week, Treasury released a new report confirming that if this exercise was actually about lowering costs for working families, Republicans could run their 2017 playbook back to the tune of $1.8 trillion. 

And if adding $4.6 trillion to the deficit is part of their mandate, they could lower costs by making up the difference extending the premium tax credits or Democrats’ expanded Child Tax Credit. 

More money directly in the pockets of those who need it most works, and it’s been proven time and again that parents who received our monthly payments spent the money on necessities. Child poverty was cut in half, and a recent study found parents actually cut back on cigarette use, likely because of decreased stress from the security of this relief.

But our colleagues are charging ahead on the only policy that ever graduates from a concept of a plan to action: cutting taxes for big corporations and billionaires on the backs of programs people rely on. 

Republicans are guising this dangerous agenda behind what they are calling a clear mandate. What mandate? The smallest popular vote margin in a quarter century? The fourth narrowest by percentage since 1960? Losing seats in the House? The only mandated agenda we should be focused on is the one that the American people deserve and the one they want: working together to make their lives more affordable. 

The American people can count on Democrats in this Congress to lead that charge. It’s what we delivered under the historic Biden-Harris Administration. 16.6 million jobs created. Lower health care and energy costs. Expanded Medicare and Social Security. A made-in-America manufacturing boom. All while holding wealthy tax evaders accountable. 

Did you see the ACA enrollment numbers? 24 million people have already signed up for healthcare coverage this season, another record. That’s thanks to Democrats.

If I sat here and debunked every ridiculous Republican myth about this tax scam I’d never leave this chair, but I’ll debunk just one of them for you here: when Republicans inevitably tell you that the GOP Tax Scam gave everyone in America a tax break, remember this one contextualized fact: Extending the law gives people making over $1 million a year a $78,717 average tax cut—288 times higher than the $273 those earning under $50,000 would receive. Those millionaires won’t feel the effects of cuts to Medicare or Medicaid, or higher premium costs, but America’s working families sure will. 

The American people deserve better than this nonsense. They deserve a worker-centered agenda that delivers them relief and gives them a fair shot. That guarantees them peace of mind caring for themselves and their loved ones. That’s what Democrats are fighting for. Not the corporate cash grab we’re discussing here today. 

With that, I yield the balance of my time.

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