[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 188 (Thursday, November 16, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H9380-H9381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          REPUBLICAN TAX SCAM

  (Ms. VELAZQUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, as we stand here today, my colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle will tell you that this tax scam bill will 
help ordinary people. As we New Yorkers say: ``If you buy that one, 
I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.''

[[Page H9381]]

  This bill takes a wrecking ball to our middle class. It erases 
deductions that ordinary, working families count on to stay afloat. It 
raises taxes on 36 million middle class families.
  By eliminating the medical expense deduction, this scam will force 
nearly half a million New Yorkers who already struggle with serious 
illnesses to dig into overstretched bank accounts just to pay their 
healthcare bills.
  By gutting the student loan interest deduction, higher education will 
become even more expensive for 800,000 New York students. Graduate 
students will be taxed on tuition waivers.
  I heard from one woman in my district, a recent Ph.D., who said she 
would have paid $2,700 in income out of her pretax income of $13,000.
  The choice is clear. Vote ``no.'' Reject this scam.

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