[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H6689-H6690]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         MIDDLE CLASS TAX CUTS

  (Ms. HIRONO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, if we don't act soon, middle class income 
families across the country will see

[[Page H6690]]

their taxes go up. I have spent the past 6 weeks crisscrossing the 
Hawaiian island chain, meeting with small business owners, workers, 
educators, and farmers. I've asked them how they feel about extending 
the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. And we agreed that the 
most important thing we can do now is extend the tax cuts for the 
middle class.
  I will oppose those who hold the middle class tax cuts hostage so 
that people earning more than $1 million will receive average tax cuts 
of $100,000 annually. The top 2 percent of these income earners in our 
country can afford to pay their fair share. Extending the Bush tax cuts 
for this group will pile on a whopping $700 billion to our deficit over 
the next 10 years.
  We must pass legislation now that ensures that 98 percent of 
Americans and 97 percent of small businesses do not pay higher taxes 
next year. And let's remember that the 111th Congress and the Obama 
administration have already enacted eight tax cuts for small 
businesses. We can no longer afford to continue the tax cuts for the 
wealthiest among us.

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