[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 15, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1748-S1749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WORKING FAMILIES TAX CUT ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on tax day, not a single American would 
say that tax day is their favorite date on the calendar. Republicans, 
however, seem to think today will mark an inflection point in their 
political fortunes. Evidently, they haven't been paying much attention.
  When Republicans passed the One Big Beautiful Bill, they promised 
Americans that their tax refunds would grow

[[Page S1749]]

by a thousand dollars, on average. Well, the results are in, and the 
massive tax relief Republicans promised has turned out to be a dud.
  Refunds, on average, have changed only by a third, about $350, and 
Americans need every penny they can get, but a couple of hundred 
dollars doesn't go very far on a tax break when the average American 
family will pay an extra $2,000 on tariff taxes and $740 this year to 
fill up their tank.
  That is right. Donald Trump's war in Iran alone has wiped out any tax 
refund Americans will see this year.
  Let me say that again: Donald Trump's war in Iran alone has wiped out 
any extra tax refund Americans will see this year, and that is not 
including all the increases they are paying because of tariffs and 
higher electric bills and what they are doing to healthcare.
  No wonder only one in four Americans believe the One Big Beautiful 
Bill is helpful, only one in four. That means there are some 
Republicans who don't like it. Seven in ten Americans, meanwhile, say 
they are still paying too much in taxes. Seven in ten Americans say 
they are paying too much in taxes while the ultrawealthy aren't paying 
their fair share.
  And they are right. Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill has been a dud for 
working families, but millionaires got a $300,000 tax cut. Big 
corporations got a tax cut of $65 billion. Republicans want to call 
their bill a working- and middle-class tax cut, but truth be told, it 
should be called a massive giveaway to the ultra-ultrawealthy. The 
lion's share of the benefits go to those at the very top, while 
inflation and Trump's war has eviscerated any shred of benefit felt by 
the rest of Americans.
  That is not tax relief. That is not tax relief. That is a brazen 
betrayal of working Americans. If Republicans think that rebranding 
their toxic bill will make Americans forget the economic pit that Trump 
and the Republicans pushed them into, they will be sorely mistaken.

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