Thornberry Statement on Tax Relief Bill

Statement

"It is absolutely essential for the health of our economy and for working families that we stop any tax increase. The bill passed last night does that.

Ninety-three percent of the bill extends current tax law or, in the case of the payroll tax cut, provides additional tax relief. The rest of it consists of one spending program-- a further extension of unemployment benefits.

Some people believe that it would have been better to reject this measure and pass another bill once the new Congress is convened in January. But, unless something is done before January 1, the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) will force 21 million American households to pay higher taxes on their 2010 income. That tax increase would be difficult to reverse.

In addition, in the new Congress the House of Representatives plans to make significant cuts to federal spending. That means if the tax issue is not resolved as soon as possible, there is a real danger that President Obama would try to leverage the tax issue to prevent spending cuts. The tax issue needs to be settled and off of the table. And now it is."

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