[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 184 (Friday, December 2, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H8080]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            PAYROLL TAX CUT

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I am asking the House to pass the 
expansion of the payroll tax cuts, which will put more money in the 
pockets of Americans and will boost economic growth and job creation.
  American workers have received bigger paychecks in 2011 because of 
the payroll tax cut, helping families to pay their grocery bills, to 
pay their rents and mortgages, and helping to support local businesses. 
Allowing the payroll tax cuts to expire at the end of this month will 
result in less money in the pockets of hardworking middle class 
families at a time when our economy and our families can least afford 
it. With global financial uncertainty threatening our domestic 
recovery, this is not the time to take money out of the pockets of 
working families.
  A family earning $50,000 a year will receive a tax cut of about 
$1,000 if the 2 percent payroll tax cut is extended. For Rhode Island, 
this would add $400 million to the paychecks of roughly 600,000 
workers. Expanding the payroll tax cut to 3.1 percent, as the President 
has proposed, could increase the flow of capital into our local economy 
in Rhode Island to approximately $700 million.
  It's time for Congress to stand up for working American families by 
extending and expanding the payroll tax cut now.

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