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Press Release
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| JUNE 30, 2003 |
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HOUSE
DEMOCRATIC LEADER PELOSI
JOINS SCHAKOWSKY AND COLLEAGUES
IN CHICAGO TO PUSH FOR CHILD
TAX
CREDIT BENEFIT TO WORKING
FAMILIES
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CHICAGO,
IL –House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky
(D-IL) and members of the Illinois delegation today called on Speaker Dennis
Hastert (R-IL) to provide 378,000 Illinois working and military families
with an extension of the child tax credit when Congress returns following
the Forth of July holiday. Nationally, 12 million children of working
and military families were denied the child tax credit, including 674,000
in Illinois.
At
a news conference today at Erie Neighborhood House, Leader Pelosi and the
members joined working families from Illinois who were denied a child tax
credit increase by Republicans in Congress.
Last
month, Republicans removed a provision that would have provided an increase
in the child credit to working and military families making between $10,500
and $26,625 during final closed-door negotiations on the tax bill recently
signed by President Bush.
After
it was reported in the press, and following Democratic pressure, the Senate
passed H.R. 1308 by a vote of 94 to 2 to increase the child tax credit
to working families. However, House Republicans insisted on passing
an $80 billion political ploy designed to sabotage the bipartisan Senate
effort to help the children of working and military families this year.
Below
is the statement of U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, Chief Deputy Whip
and a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee:
STATEMENT
OF U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-IL)
ERIE
NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE
JUNE
30, 2003
I
am honored to stand here today with our Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
and my colleagues from the House of Representatives. We are here
to express our commitment to working families, families who have earned
our praise and our respect.
Every
day millions of families send their children to childcare centers like
Erie Neighborhood House so they can go to work, earn a living and provide
for their loved ones. Families at Erie House work hard and play by
the rules, their median household income is less than $14,000, and 42%
of families have an income between $10,000 and $15,000. And like
many families across the country, the breadwinners are often home health
aides, teacher aides, childcare provides or security guards.
Christin
Howard is a proud mother of a nine-year son and is a home health care worker
who takes care of our seniors. Sharon Pennington has four children
and works with the Chicago Police department as a crossing guard. Guadalupe
Narvaez has three beautiful children and works very hard to take care of
her children. As a day care teacher at the Howard Area Community Center
in Chicago, which is my District, she takes good care of other people's
children, too. She cares for other people's children as if they were her
own.
Sadly,
those families do not matter much to the Republican leadership. For
all of their hard work and dedication, those families here today along
with 6.5 million working and military families got the short end of the
Republican tax cut stick. They were denied a child tax credit of
few hundred dollars by the Republicans so that millionaires can get their
dividend tax cut.
To
make room for tax cuts for the Bush class, Republicans denied giving tax
relief to 12 million children from families making between $10, 500 and
$26,625. This was done in secret, behind closed doors; no Democrats were
involved in the negotiations. Vice President Cheney who negotiated
that deal that cut working families out will reap about $116,000 a year
from the dividend and capital gains provisions in the tax bill. But
nearly 674,000 children or one in four children in Illinois who would have
qualified for this tax relief get nothing.
One million of these kids are the children of veterans or active members
of the armed forces. Is this how President Bush and Republican leaders
in Congress show their appreciation for families that risk their lives
to serve their country?
The
decision to eliminate tax relief for working families showed the true colors
of the Bush Administration and its friends in Congress. It was unfair
and un-American, but it was typical of the radical House Republican leadership.
The
Republican leader in the House of Representatives Tom DeLay said after
the Senate acted in shame and passed a bill to give these families a tax
break: “It ain’t going to happen.” He later said Republicans were
too busy to deal with this issue before the 4th of July. Whatever
the excuse, Republicans can’t hide from the truth. They decided to
take care of the millionaires first instead of taking care of workers who
look after, teach, and protect our children.
That
is why we are here today to be the voices for Christin, Guadalupe, Sharon,
Gladys, Patricia and the 6.5 million families with 12 million children
who deserve a child tax credit. Democrats in Congress will not rest
until families get the help they need and deserve. Our Democratic Leader
in the House, Nancy Pelosi, has made it clear to Speaker Hastert and to
President Bush that action must be taken immediately to provide those working
and military families with tax relief. Twelve million children, including
one million in military families, are counting on us.
At
every turn the Bush Administration and Republican leaders have resisted
our efforts, but we are here are here to say that we are not going to stop
until these families are treated with the same respect and dignity by President
Bush, Speaker Hastert, and the Republican Congress as millionaires across
this country. |
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