Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GONZALEZ-COLON. Mr. Speaker, I join in support of H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, being considered in the House today. This bipartisan bill, championed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith and Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, improves existing pro-growth tax policies to support America's families, strengthen our economy, and boost innovation by helping U.S. companies compete against China.

One of the main provisions in this bill is the Child Tax Credit, which benefits more than 250,000 families in Puerto Rico. A study made by the Youth Development Institute (Instituto del Desarrollo de la Juventud), a non-profit organization focused in reducing child poverty on the island, found, youth poverty may have declined from 55 to 39 percent in 2021 when eligibility for the Child Tax Credit was expanded to residents of Puerto Rico with one or two qualifying children. Previously this tax benefit only applied to three or more qualifying children. I am proud that my legislation recognizing the need to include families with one or two children was adopted, and families can claim this credit in the same manner as families in the rest of the country.

From hurricanes to earthquakes. Puerto Rico has suffered several natural disasters over the last few years. The support we have received from Congress and federal agencies has been instrumental in our recovery. As such, I sympathize with my colleagues who have been afflicted by recent disasters and support the tax provisions that are presented on this bill that would bring much needed relief to communities across the country.

I am encouraged by the bipartisan and bicameral work that produced this bill, and I strongly encourage my colleagues on the House and Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee to continue working on expired tax provisions, including the Rum Excise Tax Cover-Over.

Earlier this Congress, I reintroduced H.R. 3146, bipartisan and bicameral legislation that would modify the amount of money transferred to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from the excise taxes collected on rum that is produced in or imported into the rest of the United States, known as ``rum cover-over.'' It is used to support critical services such as healthcare and education, as well as agricultural and conservation efforts.

I was proud when Congress last approved my bill to extend the rum cover over for five years as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. However, that increased rate of the rum cover over expired at the end of December 2021 and has yet to be renewed, resulting in continued uncertainty, and negatively impacting the economies of both jurisdictions.

Puerto Rico's rum industry is one of the major drivers of the island's economy, producing more than 70 percent of the rum that is consumed in the U.S. and 80 percent of the rum consumed around the world.

With that in mind is that Congress created the rum cover over program in 1917 and has continued to be part of tax extenders legislation since. I encourage my colleagues to include my bill in any forthcoming tax legislation,

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