Letter to the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives - Call to Allow for Consideration of Bipartisan Senate-Passed Bill

Letter

Dear Mr. Speaker:

We are disappointed that during yesterday morning's House session, the Speaker pro-tempore refused to allow the consideration of the bipartisan Senate-passed bill to extend the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance and the SGR Medicare physician fix. Passage of this bill is essential prior to January 1, and is the only way to ensure that tens of millions of Americans avoid losing tax cuts and other essential benefits as we continue to work on a longer-term extension of these critical policies.

Yesterday, 180 Democrats introduced HR 3743 which is identical to the Senate-passed bill. The House has three chances before January 1 -- this Friday, next Tuesday, and next Friday -- during which this bill could be passed by Unanimous Consent. Democrats will provide that support to provide the American people a firm guarantee that these essential benefits will not terminate unnecessarily on December 31.

We urge you to direct whoever is serving as the presiding officer on each of these upcoming House sessions to recognize a Democratic Member to offer a motion to pass the short term extension without further delay. There is no reason why such an extension cannot be on the President's desk within a few hours of House action given the overwhelming support the Senate has already demonstrated. We owe it to 160 million affected Americans to pass this consensus, bipartisan bill before December 31, and Democrats offer our support as soon as you will allow the bill to be considered.

best regards,

Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader

Steny Hoyer
Democratic Whip

James E. Clyburn
Assistant Democratic Leader

John Larson
Democratic Caucus Chairman

Xavier Becerra
Democratic Caucus Vice Chair