Patsy T. Mink: “I would like to say that it was not too long ago that we were saying, read my lips, no tax increases. Our majority party…”

“I would like to say that it was not too long ago that we were saying, read my lips, no tax increases. Our majority party has been saying no tax increases, we are going to have tax cuts because that is what this economy needs. Yet we know this budget resolution is going to reduce EITC by $20 billion. What does that mean for those childless families? That means a tax increase. If they have under existing law been enjoying an EITC from the Government and suddenly this bill is passed, reducing that EITC benefit to this family because they are childless, that, my friends, is a tax increase to that family. There will be millions of families so affected. A family without a child in the household that they can consider a dependent may suddenly be strapped by someone becoming very ill, a heart attack or a stroke or someone has to go out and work and perhaps under this devastating minimum wage not be able to survive. And the Government is going to say, now that childless couple needing the support from this Government just as poor as any other family is not going to have the EITC benefit because there is no child in the household? We want to help all families that are poor, that are entitled to this support. I cannot believe that the majority would stand up and say that this is not a tax increase on that poor family that heretofore has had this benefit.”