"This means that a mother of two who earns $65,000 a year will soon find an extra $800 in her mailbox, and rightfully so.  Meanwhile, a mother of two who earns up to $26,625 will find an empty mailbox.  That’s simply not fair. 

"We had to explain that this past week to a single mother from our district who earns $16,000 a year.  She was under the impression that she would be getting the child tax credit, and wanted our office to settle an argument with a friend who insisted she didn’t qualify.  We had to tell her that indeed, she lost that argument, and because House Republicans did not act on the Senate-passed version, she will not be included in this benefit. 

"It is simply wrong to enact a tax cut in the name of economic relief and not give that relief to those who are trying to do the right thing and stay off welfare, work jobs with few or no benefits, struggling to make ends meet and provide for their children. 

"For those who argue that a tax cut shouldn’t be provided for those who “don’t pay taxes”, I’m sorry, but that’s incorrect. 

"We are not talking about a tax cut for welfare recipients; we are talking about a tax cut for working families.  Working individuals who pay a significant part of their income in taxes, including Social Security and Medicare taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes and property taxes – taxes which are never cut – should be entitled to share in the benefits of a tax cut, particularly since it is their Social Security Trust Fund that is being tapped into to pay for this tax cut for the wealthy. 

"It is only fair that tax cuts benefit all working Americans who contribute – the 76,000 working families in Arkansas, and the 6.5 million working families across our country  - the families of our firefighters, our policemen, our teachers, and even families with loved ones fighting in Iraq – all contribute, and all deserve economic relief."

Photo: Ross stands with a mother of three and her children during a press conference Friday on Capitol Hill.  The family is one of 6.5 million low to moderate-income families who have been left out of the child tax credit.

“I am looking forward to visiting with you in your hometowns,” Ross said.  “I try my best to get out and around the district when I am not in our nation’s capital for votes, but over the next month I will have the opportunity to reach every corner of our district.  I encourage you to look over our calendar of events for the August District Work Period and see when our office might be stopping by your town for community office hours, meetings, or other public events.”

Ross’s calendar is available on his website, www.house.gov/ross.  The schedule is tentative, and will be updated as necessary. 

Among the events are a number of community office hours that the public is invited to attend.  Ross will announce each round of office hours one week in advance.  The first week’s schedule of community office hours is as follows:

Tuesday, July 29
· Magnolia – Columbia County Courthouse, 9:30 – 11:00 am
· Ashdown – Little River County Courthouse, 3:30 – 5:00 pm

Wednesday, July 30
· Paris – Logan County Courthouse, 9:00 – 10:30 am
· Booneville – Logan County Courthouse, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
· Waldron – Scott County Courthouse, 2:30 – 4:00 pm
· Mena – Polk County Courthouse, 5:00 – 6:00 pm

“I feel it is necessary to visit places like Ashdown, Mena, Paris, or any number of communities in our district whose citizens may not get an opportunity to meet with me otherwise,” Ross said.  “These community office hours allow me to bring my staff to your hometown.  I invite you to come out and see us next Tuesday and Wednesday and let me know if there is anything I can do for you as your United States Representative.  We will hold office hours throughout our district in the upcoming weeks, but in the meantime, feel free to call, write, or e-mail me whenever I can be of assistance.  I look forward to visiting with you over the next few weeks.”

Earlier Wednesday, the ITC voted four to zero that there had been injury to the domestic catfish industry caused by imports from Vietnam.  This decision comes a month after the Department of Commerce ruled that Vietnamese producers and exporters of frozen basa and tra fillets have made sales to U.S. customers at less than fair values. 

“This landmark decision is a victory for our local catfish producers who have struggled to compete with Vietnamese imports,” said Ross, ranking member on the Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture.  “Our producers have lost millions of dollars as a result of the impact Vietnamese trade practices have had on our country.  First, they labeled another species of fish as ‘catfish,’ and then, after the amendment I added to last year’s Farm Bill prohibited that false labeling, the price of the fish was lowered beyond the cost of production to compete with our domestic product.  I am a proponent of fair trade, but these Vietnamese producers are not playing fair.  I thank the Catfish Farmers of America and all who have helped to bring this situation to light so that it could be corrected, and so that our local catfish producers will finally have an opportunity for success.”

The dumping investigation comes after a June 28, 2002 antidumping petition filed by the Catfish Farmers of America.  Ross wrote a letter of support for that petition, and also voted for the Disapproving Most Favored Nation Status for Vietnam (H.J.Res 101) Resolution in protest of Vietnam flooding U.S. markets with frozen fillets at prices that hurt Arkansas catfish farmers.
 

Mike speaks with a resident of the Fred W. Parris Towers Senior Center in Little Rock after holding a news conference with Democratic Representatives Vic Snyder and Marion Berry on shortcomings in the Medicare prescription-drug bill passed by the House of Representatives.