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Motion to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3630, Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 8, 2012
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Unemployed and Low-Income Entitlements and the Safety Net Taxes

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Mr. PETERS. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise today in support of Representative Bishop's Democratic motion to instruct conferees.

If Congress doesn't act by the end of the month, Americans that have lost their jobs through no fault of their own will begin losing the unemployment benefits keeping their family afloat in these very difficult times. This is why I'm leading my colleagues in sending a letter to the conference committee urging them to preserve current levels of unemployment benefits. Families receiving unemployment benefits are already facing significant challenges, and pulling the rug out from underneath them would damage our economy and force these Americans into poverty.

Mr. Speaker, my Republican colleagues like to talk about uncertainty. When they're not pushing tax cuts for the rich as a cure-all for the economy, they're blaming uncertainty supposedly created by Wall Street reform or environmental protections for slow economic growth.

If my Republican colleagues want to know what real uncertainty is, I suggest they pick up the phone the next time one of their constituents who is staring down the expiration of their unemployment benefits calls. Real uncertainty is not knowing if you're able to pay for heat. Real uncertainty is not knowing if you're able to pay for groceries. Real uncertainty means spending a year or more looking for a job and barely scraping by with unemployment benefits while some in Washington want to play politics with the livelihood of these Americans. Uncertainty is exactly what Republicans are creating by their refusal to come to the table and pass a full extension of unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut.

I support Representative Bishop's motion to instruct conferees because it will direct conference committee members to stop the delay and issue their report next week. American families cannot afford to wait any longer.

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