[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 11774]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1230
                   TAX CUTS FOR MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES

  (Ms. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. EDWARDS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge us to reclaim the 
security that middle class Americans have lost over the last decade.
  Beginning in 2001, Republicans passed trillions of dollars in tax 
cuts, primarily benefiting the wealthiest Americans. We were told these 
tax cuts would unleash a torrent of job creation and economic growth. 
That was baloney. It failed miserably. The wealthiest Americans 
experienced unprecedented gains while middle class families saw their 
budgets shrink in tandem with rising poverty and the slowest rate of 
job creation in half a century.
  Well, lesson learned. It's time to let the tax cuts for the 
wealthiest expire, but not at the expense of middle class families. 
It's time to extend, without delay or uncertainty, tax cuts for all 
families, for all income up to $250,000. If we don't, it will be a 
disaster, and a tax hike will result for those middle class families.
  Mr. Speaker, it's unacceptable, particularly when Republicans are 
holding these tax cuts hostage so that wealthy Americans can continue 
to reap the benefits of a broken system that hasn't worked to the 
advantage of most Americans and has exploded our deficit. Lesson 
learned.
  Let's not let tax cuts expire for people whose income is up to 
$250,000.

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