Congressman Gibson Statement on Agreement to Avert Fiscal Cliff

Statement

Congressman Chris Gibson (NY-20) released the following statement regarding his vote on the Senate Amendment to H.R. 8. The House passed the legislation this evening.

"Early Tuesday morning, the Senate passed legislation by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 89-8 that will make permanent the lower tax rates of the Bush era. I support this bill and voted "yes' as it provides much needed tax relief for over 99% of my constituents. Making these tax cuts permanent was one of my major goals when I first ran for Congress - this will help small businesses grow and working families keep more of their hard-earned money.

"Growing up in a working class family, I know firsthand the value of every dollar when you're trying to make ends meet. I'm relieved that nearly all of my constituents will be protected from tax increases. Unfortunately, we did not get the major agreement necessary to stabilize the deficit. We need to pick up the pace to achieve necessary long-term deficit reduction or we will decline as an economic power and take with it the hopes and dreams of future generations.

"In my view, the Cooper-LaTourette Budget, inspired by the President's Deficit Reduction Commission ("Simpson-Bowles"), provides the framework to begin the negotiations. The Cooper-LaTourette proposal reduces the deficit by $4 Trillion through comprehensive pro-growth tax reform, structural changes, and spending reductions both parties can support. As we move forward, we don't need a new study, new commission, or new Joint Select Committee to get things started - we should utilize the Simpson-Bowles report, modified by Cooper-LaTourette to attract more bipartisan support, to forge the major agreement necessary.

"Our Constitutional design requires consensus to affect political change. In an era of divided government, if we do not work together we will keep the status quo. In my view, that is completely unacceptable. We now have about two months to reach a major agreement to stabilize our deficit. We have three opportunities to do so -- addressing the sequester, the FY2013 Budget, and the debt ceiling. Our country and future generations are counting on us to get this done and 2013 must be the year."

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