[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 58 (Thursday, April 25, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S3038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Baucus, 
        Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Menendez, Mr. 
        Cardin, Mr. Casey, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Lautenberg, Mrs. 
        Gillibrand, Mr. Cowan, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Reed, Ms. Hirono, 
        Mr. Harkin, Mr. Levin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Begich, 
        Mr. Schatz, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Franken, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Warren, 
        Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Murphy):
  S. 836. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
strengthen the earned income tax credit and make permanent certain tax 
provisions under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today, Senator Brown and I are introducing 
important legislation to extend tax relief to working families: The 
Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2013.
  This legislation will ensure that taxes do not increase on working 
families in the coming years, and will expand an effective incentive to 
work.
  The Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2013 is pro-family, pro-work 
legislation that would permanently extend critical refundable tax 
credit provisions that have helped lift millions of working families 
out of poverty.
  These provisions were only extended for 5 years in the American 
Taxpayer Relief Act, the same bill that permanently lowered the estate 
tax for the wealthiest Americans.
  The Child Tax Credit, CTC, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, EITC, 
are refundable tax credits that encourage work, help families make ends 
meet, and lead to healthier and better educated children.
  Both the Senate-passed budget and the President's FY 2014 budget 
request call for making these provisions permanent.
  Consistent with the original goals for the EITC, the Working Families 
Tax Relief Act would help the only group that our Tax Code pushes into 
poverty: childless workers.
  The EITC was designed to help childless workers offset their payroll 
tax liability. In reality, employees bear the burden of both the 
employee and employer portion of the payroll tax.
  As a result, a typical single childless adult will begin to owe 
Federal income taxes in addition to payroll taxes when his or her 
income is still significantly below the poverty line. These changes 
will result in a full-time worker receiving the minimum wage to be 
eligible for the maximum earned income credit amount.
  This may sound complicated, but these CTC and EITC provisions have 
real-world impacts.
  An analysis of Census data showed that these CTC provisions lifted 
900,000 people above the poverty line in 2011, using a poverty measure 
that counts not only cash income but also taxes and government 
benefits.
  According to recent estimates, letting the expanded CTC expire will 
increase taxes on 12 million families who will see the size of their 
CTC credit shrink, and 5 million families will no longer be eligible 
for the credit at all.
  The EITC has long been one of the most effective anti-poverty 
measures in our toolkit. In 2011, according to the Internal Revenue 
Service, the EITC lifted 6.6 million Americans out of poverty, 3.3 
million of whom were children.
  In Illinois last year, 1 million taxpayers claimed the EITC and 
received an average credit of about $2,300. That money isn't a hand-
out, it is food on the table, school clothes for children and maybe a 
little bit leftover to buy Christmas presents.
  When Ronald Reagan signed the 1986 Tax Reform package, he had this to 
say about its provisions that expanded the EITC:

       The Earned Income Tax Credit is the best anti-poverty, the 
     best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of 
     Congress.

  I could not have said it better myself.
  I thank Senator Brown for his leadership on this, as a new member of 
the Finance Committee.
  I look forward to working with him and many of my colleagues to 
ensure that these provisions are included in tax reform.
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