[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 25 (Thursday, February 8, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H978-H979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING PFC JOHN WILLIAM LITTLE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois). The Chair 
recognizes the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Curbelo) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CURBELO of Florida. Mr. Speaker, Army Private First Class Johnny 
Little is a former resident of my district who had been killed in 
action at the very young age of 19 near Cologne, Germany, while 
fighting Nazis during World War II. Once Private First Class Little's 
remains were brought to south Florida, three years after being killed, 
he was regrettably buried without the recognition of his service that 
should have marked his grave all these years.

                              {time}  0915

  When I became aware of his case last year, I felt it was important 
this mistake be corrected quickly. My staff immediately opened a case 
and located

[[Page H979]]

Little's service records. After working with members of his family, my 
office was able to put in a request to the Department of Veterans 
Affairs to secure the appropriate marker for his grave. Unfortunately, 
due to the damage from Hurricane Irma, the cemetery was damaged and the 
installation of his headstone had to be put on hold.
  Thanks largely in part to the work of volunteers who cleaned up and 
led the recovery after the storm, I am pleased to share that First 
Class John William Little will finally be receiving the recognition he 
deserves as his family and members of the community come together with 
the Homestead Air Force Base Honor Guard to place a proper headstone on 
his grave later today.
  Little was part of what we call the Greatest Generation, and the name 
is rightly deserved. At a time when human dignity and basic freedoms 
were under attack, he and millions like him put their lives on hold to 
ensure our way of life would be protected for generations to come. The 
basic freedoms we value, the way of life we enjoy, and even the 
continued existence of our government institutions are because of the 
sacrifices made by men and women like Private First Class Little.
  I am proud of my staff's hard work to secure this recognition for one 
of our fallen heroes and humbled that we were able to play a role in 
honoring his memory and sacrifice. I am disappointed I won't be there 
to honor him in person today, but I look forward to visiting his grave 
to pay my respects soon.


                            VITA United Way

  Mr. CURBELO of Florida. Mr. Speaker, last year Congress passed 
historic tax reform repairing our Nation's broken Tax Code. The 
positive effects of this new law are beginning to be felt across the 
country as businesses of all sizes reward their workers with bonuses 
and higher wages, all while hiring more people to fill new positions.
  Millions of Americans across the income spectrum will start seeing 
more money in their paychecks as soon as this month. However, with the 
growth of wages and bonuses being realized, reprehensible individuals 
looking to commit fraud and take advantage of countless hardworking 
Americans as they file their taxes will see this as a prime opportunity 
to ply unsuspecting victims. Sadly, fraudulent tax preparation is a 
problem we know all too well in south Florida.
  Fortunately, free tax filing assistance is available for those who 
need it. The IRS offers the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, 
known as VITA, to provide free tax preparation services from volunteer 
tax professionals in local communities.
  Mr. Speaker, for low-income families with an annual income of less 
than $54,000, the elderly, and those struggling with English, VITA 
services are an opportunity to make the most of the recent tax relief 
legislation and ensure they are getting as much in their tax return as 
possible.
  Sixty percent of residents in my district qualify for this assistance 
in preparing their taxes, which is why I have made fighting to protect 
and strengthen the VITA program one of my top priorities since being 
appointed to the Ways and Means Committee last year.
  Together with my Democratic colleague Representative Danny Davis, I 
introduced a bipartisan bill that would permanently authorize the IRS 
to fund this free tax preparation service. It also ensures that VITA 
grant recipients, who already have accuracy rates of 94 percent, 
including tax returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit, maintain 
strong records of accuracy that will save taxpayers money.
  My legislation is an important step toward ensuring the IRS is 
serving taxpayers and not the other way around. I am proud it has 
strong bipartisan support.
  In my district, United Way of Miami-Dade and United Way of Monroe 
work hard to connect lower-income taxpayers or those with limited 
English skills with reliable, legitimate tax preparation assistance--
entirely for free through the IRS VITA program. I was honored to invite 
United Way of Miami-Dade to Washington last year to share the work they 
do to help so many in our community fully utilize this free resource.
  Unfortunately, I won't be able to visit United Way in South Dade this 
afternoon as planned, but I look forward to rescheduling to bring 
attention to their work soon.
  I want to ensure as many constituents as possible are aware these 
services are available to protect their hard-earned paychecks, 
especially in a period of historic tax relief, and I encourage anyone 
looking for more information to reach out to my office for assistance.

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