[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 21, 2026)]
[House]
[Page H3000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                TAX DAY

  (Mrs. Sykes of Ohio was recognized to address the House for 5 
minutes.)
  Mrs. SYKES. Mr. Speaker, last week was tax day. I probably don't have 
to remind most folks because it is a day that is both loved and lauded 
depending on who you are. For millions of Americans it is supposed to 
be a moment of relief, a chance to catch up, get ahead, and breathe a 
little easier because of the refunds that many expect.
  But for far too many families, including my constituents in Ohio's 
13th Congressional District, tax day was just another reminder that 
their money isn't going as far as it should.
  While the President and House Republicans promised lower costs and 
bigger refunds, families are actually seeing grocery bills that are too 
high; gas prices that stretch their budgets; and rent, healthcare, 
housing, and everyday essentials that are taking up more and more of 
their paychecks.
  When they finally get that tax refund, they will realize it doesn't 
go as far as promised, or they didn't get a tax refund at all, and it 
went nowhere.
  That is not by accident.
  Republican policies like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act gave massive 
tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations. The top 
0.1 percent are receiving average tax cuts of more than $300,000. 
Meanwhile, Americans earning less than $50,000 a year are seeing their 
taxes go up.
  Add in President Trump's lack of strategy on tariffs, which amounts 
to a national sales tax, and now families are paying more out of pocket 
while the wealthiest get a permanent tax break.
  But that is not all. The one big, ugly bill also slashed a trillion 
dollars from Medicaid and cut billions to SNAP, jeopardizing healthcare 
and food for millions of Americans across the country and tens of 
thousands of my constituents.
  And it is not just about coverage. It is about jobs. Hospitals and 
healthcare providers are the largest employers in Ohio's 13th District. 
When you cut funding at that scale you are not just hurting patients, 
you are threatening jobs, closing services, and weakening our local 
economy.
  Mr. Speaker, we don't need to raise costs on working families to give 
more tax breaks to the wealthy. My Lowering Your Taxes Act expands the 
earned income tax credit and the child tax credit so working families 
can better afford childcare, groceries, housing, and other expenses. It 
would allow families to claim up to $3,600 per child, lift them out of 
poverty, and allow them to decide where their dollars are needed the 
most, while also expanding tax relief to workers who are often left 
out.
  My No Tax on Overtime for All Workers Act makes a simple promise: If 
you work extra hours, you should be able to keep that extra pay because 
every extra hour on the job is time away from family, time spent 
working hard. That effort should be rewarded and not taxed, but because 
of the carelessly thrown together no tax on overtime provisions in the 
One Big Beautiful Bill Act, thousands of members of organized labor, 
the very people who built and made this country run, are excluded.
  I have also worked with my colleagues, Republican and Democrat, 
through the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus to lower costs, 
strengthen supply chains, improve trade policy, and protect jobs in 
Ohio's 13th District, the birthplace of champions.
  Trade policy should be strategic, not chaotic, and it should never 
leave American families paying the price.
  I have called for restoring Congress' role in trade decisions because 
these choices are too important to be made without accountability.

  There certainly is a need to ensure that American companies are able 
to compete with companies and goods from other countries with 
questionable labor practices, but what is happening with this 
administration is not the case. It is chaotic. It is expensive, and the 
national tax on goods costs way too much for the general American 
public.
  At the end of the day, I will never stop advocating for my 
constituents and for the American public who deserve so much better 
than this.
  We should all ask the question--because at the end of the day this is 
about who our economy works for--is it working for the families who are 
doing everything right, working hard, paying their taxes, going to work 
every day trying to get ahead; or is it working for the powerful and 
well-connected?
  Well, I believe it should be working for the people, for the workers 
putting in overtime, parents trying to afford childcare, and families 
choosing between groceries and healthcare.
  Working families deserve policies that lower costs and reward hard 
work and leaders who will fight for them every single day. I am that 
leader, and, Mr. Speaker, I call upon you and your majority to work 
alongside me.

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