Motion to Go to Conference on H.R. 3630, Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011

Floor Speech

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Ms. JENKINS. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, folks are mad out there. They're mad because what Congress is doing--or not doing, in many cases--makes absolutely no sense.

As a CPA, I'll tell you that handling tax policy on a month-to-month basis isn't just irresponsible; it's downright crazy. According to the nonpartisan National Payroll Reporting Consortium, the cost of complying with the 2-month extension proposed by the Senate may actually harm many small businesses. In fact, implementing the cuts on this short timeline may not even be possible.

In addition to being a CPA, I'm also a mom, and I would do just about anything to be working out of our Topeka office at this time of year so that I could spend evenings with my kids. But agreeing to a tax policy that is so short-lived that it costs not just our government but also our small businesses big bucks is not one of them.

The American people are exhausted. They are sick and tired of Congress kicking the can down the road on hard decisions. So I ask our leaders in the Senate, Are your vacation plans more important than good policy? Why will it be easier to negotiate a deal in February than it is today? Come back. We still have time. Work with us to do the job we were elected to do. Let's make the hard decisions today. Let's extend the payroll tax cuts for the entire year, and let's not do it on the backs of a generation more focused on Santa right now than they are on tax policy.

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