[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 126 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5723-S5724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TAX RELIEF FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND WORKERS ACT OF 2024

  Mr. WARNOCK. Mr. President, I rise today with deep antipathy and 
disappointment for the persistent political games being played in this 
Chamber. As a pastor, I am particularly bothered when those games are 
played with children.
  Today, by all accounts, the Senate will fail to pass legislation with 
strong bipartisan support that will make a serious difference in the 
lives of everyday Georgians and their children. We are on track to do 
the right thing by our children.
  But, once again, politics--as we enter the silly season of politics--
is getting in the way of extending the expanded child tax credit. It is 
not only the right thing to do morally, it is the smart thing to do 
economically.
  I have to say that I find that often that is the case with our public 
policy.

[[Page S5724]]

Very often, the right thing to do is also the smart thing to do. And it 
is politics and politics alone that gets in the way. Were it not for 
the cynical politics in Washington, passing this bill would be a no-
brainer.

  The moral question that we have to ask ourselves is, Are we so 
focused on the next election that we can't focus on the next 
generation?
  It is beyond nonsensical that there are some who have previously 
preached about the importance of lowering taxes, but they are getting 
ready to vote down a tax cut for middle- and working-class families.
  I think it is important to underscore that point because I recognize 
the folks at home, when they hear words like ``tax credit,'' ``expanded 
child tax credit,'' they are engaged in their work; they may not 
readily know what we are talking about. It is a tax cut. That is what 
it is, a tax cut for middle- and working-class families. And when we 
passed it back in 2021, it was, in fact, the largest tax cut for 
middle- and working-class families in American history.
  But now we have the same lawmakers who love to talk about the need to 
lower taxes on middle- and working-class Americans--an argument I hear 
often--they are getting ready to vote down this tax cut. So the next 
time that I hear them talking about the need to cut taxes, I am going 
to ask my colleagues: How did you vote today? How did you vote when you 
had an opportunity to provide tax relief for ordinary people?
  Maybe the issue is not so much tax cuts; it is for whom. Is it for 
those who need it the least or those who can benefit from it the most?
  The bipartisan tax relief bill, negotiated in good faith by my friend 
the senior Senator from Oregon, is legislation that will offer a 
helping hand to ordinary families because we know that when ordinary 
people thrive, the economy thrives. And the reason the economy thrives 
is because when people who do not have a lot of disposable income--or 
virtually no disposable income--when they get a little bit of relief, 
you know, they buy extravagant things, you know, like a coat for their 
kid for winter, some more food, an opportunity to get some afterschool 
enrichment. That is what I think about.
  I think about a mom that I met in Columbus, GA, named Denise, who in 
the weeks after we passed the expanded child tax credit said to me: 
Senator, I am so grateful that you all got this done. She said that she 
used those extra dollars to help prepare her daughter to go back to 
school and to help take care of her household as she was transitioning 
between jobs. It was a win for her, a win for her daughter, a win for 
the American economy.
  Let's be clear. The bill that we are taking up today would help 
reduce poverty for some 636,000 children in Georgia and their families.
  If I am honest, it is the kind of work that spurred me, a pastor, to 
get involved in politics in the first place. I put up with politics in 
order to do things like this. When we passed the expanded child tax 
credit, we literally cut child poverty 40 percent or more in America. 
But because we only did it for 6 months, we went back and doubled it. 
We can do better than that.
  These dollars are going right back into the economy, helping small 
businesses and helping local economies to be stronger. We are helping 
families, helping businesses, helping our economy. Not only that, but 
we know that the smartest investment we can make is investing in our 
children. When we invest in our kids--especially in getting them out of 
poverty--we literally save them from the trauma, the actual trauma that 
poverty creates.
  So I stand advocating, pushing, begging my colleagues to reconsider.
  You know, I grew up in public housing. I wouldn't be standing here 
today if it were not for good Federal public policy. I worked hard. I 
put my shoes on every morning. I come from a family that emphasized a 
strong work ethic. But I needed all of that and good Federal public 
policy to be standing on this floor right now.
  I am the beneficiary of Head Start, which, by the way, Project 2025 
wants to go after. Head Start, which gives poor children access to 
literacy, sets the foundation for a good life.
  In high school, another good Federal program called Upward Bound put 
me on a college campus every summer and every Saturday so I knew I 
belonged on college campuses. And then Pell grants and student loans 
ensured I could make my way through college.
  The expanded child tax credit is part of that good public policy, 
strengthening ordinary people. It would strengthen their families and 
would strengthen the American economy.
  The time to do that is now. The time now is not to focus on November 
but to focus on what we can do right now. Dr. King was right: The time 
to do right is always right and that time is right now.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.

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