Unfortunately, the House majority passed a child tax credit that seeks to make tax cuts to families whose incomes are between $110,000 and $270,000 permanent, yet only extends the tax credit for low-income workers for one year! And how does the majority want to pay for this massive tax cut? By adding to our nation's swelling national debt - the largest in our nation's history. When our country is $8 trillion in the red, we must pass tax cuts that are fiscally responsible, and unfortunately, the bill passed in Congress this week fails to do that. 

Also this week, the House majority passed an incredibly irresponsible budget that digs deeper into our national debt, while at the same time, slashes funding for important domestic programs, including education, rural water projects, grants for our rural fire departments, and law enforcement. This budget also fails to protect and preserve Social Security, which will be broke by 2042. 

It simply makes no sense to enact a budget that creates billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America by borrowing the money to pay for these cuts from our children and grandchildren.  Our grandparents' generation left this country a little bit better off than they found it for our parents' generation, and our parents' did the same for our generation.  I believe we have a duty and an obligation to leave this country better off than we found it for our children and grandchildren.  It is wrong to continue to borrow $1.1 billion a day to fund tax cuts for the rich and leave our children and grandchildren with the bill.

Of this funding, $47 million is directly allocated to projects in the Fourth Congressional District. 

“I have worked hard to secure funding in this Defense bill, that will provide more jobs and economic opportunities for working families in the Fourth District defense industry,” said Ross. “Defense manufacturers located throughout our district - in particular the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant and the Pine Bluff Arsenal - will benefit significantly from this funding.”

Fourth District projects included in the Defense Authorization Act include: 

Flexible Load, Assembly, and Pack (LAP) Facility for 120mm Mortar Family of Extended Range Ammunition- $6 million 

Procure additional M22 Automatic Chemical Agent Alarms (ACADA) for National Guard- $20 million 

MK40 Protective Mask Rebuild (Army) $5 million 

MK40 Protective Mask Rebuild (Marine Corps) $2 million 

M49 Fixed Installation Filter- $1 million 

MK45 Protective Mask $3 million 

M295 Equipment Decontamination Kit- $2 million 

M291 Decontamination Decon- $3 million 

M100 Sorbent Decontamination Kit- $2 million

M12A1 Decontamination Apparatus- $3 million 

The bill also includes many important provisions for our troops, including a 3.5% across-the-board pay raise, special pay and bonuses for reservists and active duty personnel, and improved housing.  It includes critical force protection resources, including additional body armor, armored Humvees, and armor add-on kits for “thin-skinned” vehicles.  In addition, it includes provisions to increase the size of our armed forces by increasing the Army by 30,000 and the Marine Corps by 9,000 over the next three years.

The bill also includes provisions to end the Survivor Benefit Penalty, which penalizes over 225,000 aging survivors, most of whom are widows of our country’s veterans. Currently over one million military retirees who pay premiums for this benefit lose part of their benefit with they become eligible for Social Security. The Defense Authorization Act reverses this so that Survivor Benefit Plan beneficiaries receive their entire benefit.

 “Our troops should be taken care of when they are serving our country overseas, and they should also be taken care of when we bring them home,” said Ross. “Today, thousands of military spouses are currently paying the Survivor Benefit Penalty. This bill puts and end to this unfair tax, and allows beneficiaries to receive their full benefit.”
 

“Today is the anniversary of one of the most important and momentous days in the history of America. Fifty years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the bold opinion, that ‘separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.’ This decision made the segregation of students based on the color of their skin effectively illegal in Kansas and the twenty other states with segregated classrooms. 

”It’s hard to imagine that less than fifty years ago, black and white children were not allowed to sit in the classroom together. They were not allowed to ride the same school bus, or drink from the same water fountain. Black children were taught with out-of-date textbooks and school supplies in overcrowded and rundown school buildings often steps from modern buildings.   Fortunately today, these dismal aspects are a scar from our past.  But the Supreme Court’s decision didn’t just happen by a sudden awakening of the nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices. Much of the credit for this change in history is due to the brave schoolchildren, parents, and teachers who took the initiative and confronted the insensible matter of segregation. 

“In reflection I am reminded of a quote made by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren during the Brown decision:  ‘To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.’ Those are the sound words from a wise man. I can’t think of a better rationale that summarizes the logical reasoning behind the Supreme Court’s decision.”