[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13064]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          MIDDLE CLASS TAX CUT

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Madam Speaker, now is the time for Congress to stand 
up for middle class families. I urge my Republican colleagues to 
abandon their plans to hold middle class tax cuts hostage to their 
demands for another tax cut for millionaires and billionaires and to 
pass a balanced tax plan, such as that contained in H.R. 15 that 
extends tax cuts for 98 percent of all Americans and 97 percent of 
small businesses.
  If Congress fails to act, an estimated 400,000 families in Rhode 
Island could face an average tax increase of $1,600. The Republican tax 
proposal will end the expanded earned income tax credit and expanded 
child tax credit and eliminate the American opportunity tax credit. In 
my State of Rhode Island, it's estimated that more than 100,000 
families would lose an average of $1,000 in 2013 if the child tax 
credit expansion is allowed to expire.
  The Republicans' misguided plan would protect tax cuts for the 
wealthiest, while effectively raising taxes on 25 million lower- and 
middle-income Americans. I urge my colleagues to support a balanced 
plan that protects the middle class, strengthens our small businesses, 
and strengthens our economy.

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