On the recordDecember 19, 2019
I am proud to rise in support of H.R. 5377 and am an original cosponsor of this legislation. I am going to put my full statement in the Record, but let me just say a few things that are top-line--top-line--for my constituents. There are over 200,000 constituents' households affected by this in my congressional district. Now, someone was talking about math. I think the original tax bill was bad math. It charged $2 trillion to the national debt. Fair? No. It was an assault on the middle class. Let's be perfectly clear about this. And what has the middle class done to anyone here? They are the backbone of our country. They have four major things to deduct: mortgage interest, SALT, charitable deductions, and health expenditures. So what did the Republicans' tax bill do? It screwed the middle class, in plain English. So this restores that deductibility, and they deserve to have it. This bill is paid for. I think that is good math, and I think it is fair. I thank Mr. Thompson and the committee for the work that they have done on it. Bravo to all of you, and thank you from my constituents. Madam Speaker, as an original cosponsor of H.R. 5377, I rise in strong support of the Restoring Tax Fairness for States and Localities Act. This legislation repeals the harmful cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction in 2020 and 2021 and fixes the marriage penalty in 2019 by doubling the SALT cap to $20,000 for married couples.…
