WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today voted against legislation that would reduce or eliminate the Child Tax Credit (CTC) for millions of working parents. Shortly before the vote she spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives; those remarks are below and a video can be viewed here.
“I rise in strong opposition against this cruel half-measure by the House Republican Majority. The bill is a boon for upper-middle-class families, but failing to extend the child tax credit expansion for lower-income families means 12 million Americans would be plunged deeper into poverty. That includes six million children, infants and toddlers. It also includes 400,000 veterans and members of the armed services; men and women who are giving their lives and sacrificing their families for this nation.
“Yesterday, in an article Bob Woodson, President of the Center for the Neighborhood Enterprise and a mentor for Chairman Paul Ryan, my colleague, told the Wall Street Journal we cannot and should not generalize about poor people. There are the deserving poor and there are the underserving poor.
“I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in this Republican Majority, who are the infants, and the toddlers who are the deserving poor and those infants and toddlers who are the undeserving poor? This is not right. I have always been a strong supporter of the child tax credit. Research has shown that this sort of income support for parents boosts employment, increases earnings and income, reduces poverty, and improves kids’ school performance.
“I have worked hard to pass the expansion of the Child Tax Credit in the Recovery Act, and I have long called for lowering the eligibility threshold to $0, so that more families in need could benefit. But, like so much else from this Majority, this bill unnecessarily leaves working families who are struggling behind. I cannot in good conscience support it and nor should any of my colleagues support it.”
DeLauro is the author of legislation to make the expanded CTC permanent. The Child Tax Credit Permanency Act would make the CTC expansion that began in the Recovery Act, and was extended in the American Taxpayer Relief Act, permanent. It would also index the value of the CTC to inflation to stem the erosion of the credit. The bill she voted against today would do neither of those things.
