Maxwell Frost: “Mr. Speaker, the majority does not want to be here today. They do not want to talk about the child tax credit. They…”

“Mr. Speaker, the majority does not want to be here today. They do not want to talk about the child tax credit. They wanted this whole issue to simply disappear. To many on the other side, as we have already heard, the child tax credit is just another form of welfare. If it were up to them, they would be cutting Ken Lay's taxes, again, instead of giving a soldier in Iraq who makes only $16,000 a year a small tax credit. But we on this side of the aisle and the American people refuse to let this issue go. And I do not know whether it is shame or exasperation, but the other side has finally agreed to discuss the child tax credit. Well, sort of. The sensible, responsible thing to do would be to bring up and pass a very good bill that passed the Senate last week by a bipartisan vote of 94 to 2, a bill that is fully paid for with offsets. But the Republican leadership rarely misses the opportunity to be insensible and irresponsible. That leadership knows very well that the Senate-passed bill would become law in a snap, because Members on both sides of the aisle would vote for it, and even the President supports it. Instead, the majority leader and the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) have brought us a bill that costs $82 billion. And, get this: there are no offsets. It is not paid for.”