[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 15 (Thursday, January 29, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S662-S663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT AWARENESS DAY

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, tomorrow, Friday, January 30, is Earned 
Income Tax Credit Awareness Day. It is a day to highlight a vital tool 
for Americans working--and I emphasize ``working''--their way out of 
poverty.
  Too many Americans work hard, play by the rules, take responsibility 
for their lives, but simply can't get ahead. They are in low-wage 
jobs--sometimes two low-wage jobs--and don't really have much 
opportunity where they live or due to their circumstances to get a job 
that pays closer to a living wage. There are millions of Americans 
living in this situation. The EITC helps provide for their children, to 
build economic security to allow them to pursue the American dream.
  Signed into law in 1975, expanded by every single President since 
then, the EITC was created to make sure we have a tax system that 
provides an incentive to work. That is what it has done.
  EITC's expansion in the 1990s led more than half a million single 
mothers to move from cash welfare assistance to work, making it twice 
as effective--without the side effects, I might add--as welfare reform. 
Since its creation, EITC has lifted more children above the poverty 
line than any other government program.
  I will emphasize that it rewards work, most importantly. In 2012, 28 
million American households--almost 1 million from my State of Ohio--
benefited from the EITC with an average credit of more than $2,300.
  I met Juanalicia Duran in Cleveland last year. She told me she lives 
paycheck to paycheck not because she overspends, not because she is 
irresponsible, but simply because she does not make a lot of money. She 
said receiving the EITC is the one time of year

[[Page S663]]

she pays off her bills. She is barely making it, getting a little bit 
behind week after week, month after month, then she gets that check 
of--I don't know how much Juanalicia Duran gets, but on average she 
gets a check for a little over $2,000. It helps her to pay her bills 
and maybe get a little bit ahead.
  Rosa Olea of Toledo works as a manager of a fast food restaurant and 
makes $9.35 an hour. Imagine that--a manager of a restaurant making 
$9.35 an hour. She said her family struggles to pay bills. The EITC has 
been a lifesaver since she found out about it through her local VITA 
center.
  There are thousands of stories like this, and we hear hundreds and 
sometimes thousands of them from Ohioans.
  In last week's State of the Union Address, President Obama laid out 
plans to reform the Tax Code by making the current earned-income tax 
credit and child tax credit permanent by expanding credit for middle-
class families to raise children and save for retirement. Some in this 
town responded--not surprisingly--by saying that reforming the Tax Code 
starts with cutting taxes for big business. Think about that.
  Most of the time, I hear people in this town--people with good 
titles, paid well, dressed well, getting a good government pension and 
health care benefits--say that the first thing we need to do with tax 
reform is lower the corporate tax rate. It is all about trickle-down 
economics. You cut taxes on big companies, you cut taxes on the 
wealthy, and maybe it will trickle down and help workers and families.
  Well, the experience of the last 25 years doesn't really say that. 
The one time we tried trickle-down for a decade--from 2000 to 2010--we 
had no net private sector job gain in this country. Zero. But when we 
tried focusing on the middle class and growing the economy from the 
middle out during the Clinton years, we had a 22-million--it may have 
been almost 23 million--private sector net increase in jobs. And since 
the auto rescue, when we have focused on the middle class for the last 
5 or 6 years by building the economy out, we have had job growth for 56 
or 57 months in a row.
  If we are going to reform the Tax Code, we need to draw a line in the 
sand: No tax breaks for corporations without tax breaks first for 
working families.
  There is one glaring hole with the earned-income tax credit. Under 
current law, workers without children who are making minimum wage 
barely receive any EITC. Childless workers under 25 don't qualify at 
all. That makes young people and workers without children the only 
group who can be taxed deeper into poverty.
  My State of the Union guest was Jason Jacobs, a Cincinnati resident 
and paraprofessional. He is a college graduate. He went to Ohio 
University. He has a degree to teach. He has not found a full-time 
teaching job. He is a paraprofessional in the West Clermont School 
District who works with special needs students and does the kinds of 
things people should be rewarded for. Last year he made less than 
$16,000. I believe he is paid hourly. He is obviously not paid in the 
summer. He is not paid on nonschool days. Because he doesn't have 
children, he will miss out on this critical tax credit.
  That is why my legislation, the Working Families Tax Relief Act, will 
nearly triple the size of the earned-income tax credit for workers 
without children, expand access to young workers, and will make 
permanent enhancements to the EITC to 2017.
  We know what this will do. We know that children from low-income 
families where the families are eligible and qualify and earn the 
EITC--and I say earned the earned-income tax credit. That is why it is 
called earned--because these are always working families who are 
playing by the rules, doing the right thing, and taking responsibility. 
We know that children from families who have earned the EITC have 
higher test scores, higher high school graduation rates, and higher 
college attendance rates. Expanding EITC means more people attending 
college and more people getting GEDs. It means working more hours and 
higher salaries. Why wouldn't we invest in the earned-income tax 
credit? It means stronger communities.
  If we fail to act to renew the provisions that expire in 2017, 50 
million Americans would lose all or part of the EITC and CTC--50 
million Americans who are doing the right thing. They are working hard 
and taking responsibility for their lives. We would just give up on 
them? We would be glad to do corporate tax breaks, but we would give up 
on the 50 million working Americans?
  Sixteen million of them--including 8 million children, if we don't 
renew--will be pushed into poverty or deeper into the poverty they are 
already in. It is the worst kind of class warfare aimed at working 
families. These workers need help to get out of poverty, not to be 
taxed into it.
  Renewing the expanded EITC will help so many people in this country. 
It is not just the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do 
because it will bring more wealth to our communities. They will spend 
the money locally. It will help small businesses, and it will make a 
big difference in a lot of lives.
  While we work to renew and expand this program, I encourage Ohioans 
who may be eligible for the EITC to visit the IRS Web site irs.gov or 
call 1-800-906-9887 or find a local Volunteer Income Tax Assistance 
Center, VITA. It is a vital and free resource for working families.
  To receive EITC, all you have to do is file your taxes. That is it. 
You have earned it; just ask for it. Spread the word about EITC. It is 
a bridge out of poverty and serves millions of American families across 
Ohio and across the Nation.
  I yield the floor.

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