WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-1) issued the following statement regarding the House Republicans’ motion that could likely lead to 160 million Americans facing a tax increase and 2.2 million people losing their unemployment benefits while they continue to look for a job. DeGette voted against the measure, which passed 229 to 193. 

“Today I join the American people in their extraordinary frustration over the leadership of the House yet again creating a politically motivated crisis and placing the financial security of millions of American families in jeopardy. Multiple media reports made clear that Speaker Boehner did in fact agree to a deal the bipartisan leadership of the Senate worked hard to negotiate, and which passed with 89 Members of the Senate in agreement. The extreme wing of the House Republican caucus is once again rejecting the notion of bipartisan compromise, leading Speaker Boehner to renege on his agreement. 

“While a two-month extension is far from ideal, given the intransigence that has marked this year in Congress, and the difficult negotiations that have already taken place on this bill, it is clear more time is needed to develop an effective year-long solution.  This short-term extension would allow time for more negotiation without forcing American families to endure a tax hike or the devastating consequences of losing their unemployment benefits.  

“That is why, with only 11 days left in this year, I am gravely disappointed the Leadership prevented us from even voting on the Senate’s bipartisan compromise. Therefore I had no choice but to vote against the politically motivated motion to go to conference. However, given the dire consequences for the American people, I must now strongly urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to appoint conferees and work towards a common-sense solution for our nation before January 1. I stand ready to vote at any time to help the millions of Americans who rely upon these critical funds.” 

Earlier in the day, DeGette took the House Floor to condemn the Leadership’s efforts to play games with the payroll tax cut and much-needed unemployment benefits for families still struggling to find work.  Click here for a video of her speech.

Text of Floor Speech: 

“Mr. Speaker, I’m mad, too. I'm mad at the Senate. I'm mad this is a short-term extension. I'm mad that this allows this pipeline that I object to, to be built. And I, too, am mad at the way it's paid for. But then, Mr. Speaker, I think about the six constituents that I met with a few weeks ago in Denver. All six are unemployed and have been for over two years. Every morning these six folks wake up with hope. They send out resumes. They make phone calls. They visit offices. They do everything they can think of to get a job. But by the end of the day, they are dispirited. With Christmas on Sunday now we want to remove all hope that they will have any way to subsist in 12 days. There's almost 36,000 people like this in my district. There's 2.2 million of them around the country. Or I think about the hundreds of thousands of families who do have jobs. Now, in 12 days, on January 1, they are all going to lose $1,000 in their paychecks next year. These people have planned their Christmas budgets around that money. Now either they'll have to charge it on credit cards, creating more debt, or maybe they just won't buy toys to put under the tree; all because of Congress. Merry Christmas. Don't fool yourself. I have been in Congress 15 years now. The Senate is not coming back. There won't be a conference committee. This motion effectively kills the bill. Let's stop arguing about process. Let's stop arguing about what we want to see. Let's stop demagoguing this issue. Let's start for once talking about the people we represent, who will lose hope this holiday season because of us. Let's defeat this motion. Let's adopt the bipartisan Senate bill. Let's come back in January and work together in a bipartisan and bicameral way to actually fix this bill. “  

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