Lee Calls Out Republican Roadblocks and Distractions to Payroll Tax Cut and Extension of Unemployment Benefits
Contact Kristal DeKleer (202) 225-1882
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following statement after a series of Republican procedural votes to block passage of H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011:
“I strongly support a plan to extend the payroll tax cut, which would prevent a tax increase directed at 160 million American workers. I strongly support an extension of unemployment benefits for the 13.3 million jobless workers, which would prevent Americans from falling into poverty.
“Unless Speaker Boehner can control the extreme Tea Party members of his Republican caucus, working families will see a tax increase next year. Unless Speaker Boehner can stop stalling, the unemployed will lose their lifeline, consumer spending will drop, and poverty will rise.
“House Republicans have put themselves in a horrendous political situation and have taken sole responsibility for a tax increase on working Americans after spending the past months defining themselves as defenders of tax breaks for millionaires. House Republican leaders are creating another crisis and this one is right before the holidays – brought to the American people by the Republican Do Nothing Congress."
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Follow Barbara Lee on Twitter @RepBarbaraLee
Watch Congresswoman Lee’s floor speech here.