[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 14]
[House]
[Pages 19107-19108]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            EXTEND PAYROLL TAX CUT AND EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, we simply cannot leave Washington 
before extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment assistance. With 
our economy still struggling and unemployment remaining unacceptably 
high at 10.4 percent in my home State of Rhode Island, now is not the 
time to take more money out of the pockets of hardworking families.
  Allowing the payroll tax cuts to expire at the end of this month will 
mean less money in the pockets of 600,000 hardworking Rhode Islanders. 
It is absolutely critical that we extend the payroll tax cut which is 
saving working families an average of $1,000 per year and would add 
$400 million to Rhode Island's economy next year. We have to do 
everything we can to strengthen our middle class families who are 
struggling to make ends meet and provide assistance to those families 
who need it most.
  If Congress does not extend emergency unemployment assistance, 
thousands of Rhode Islanders, as well as millions of Americans who rely 
on this critical safety net, will lose their assistance. This will have 
a devastating impact on these families and on our economy.
  Rather than providing subsidies to Big Oil companies and arguing for 
more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, it's time for Congress 
to

[[Page 19108]]

stand up for American families and to extend the payroll tax cut and 
unemployment compensation.

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