Rich Neal: “Tomorrow we are going to be asked to cast perhaps one of the most important votes that will take place in a career here…”

“Tomorrow we are going to be asked to cast perhaps one of the most important votes that will take place in a career here in the House based on the tax plan that the Republicans have put forward. I say history is important, because this vote is likely to have consequences for years and years and years to come. As I noted earlier tonight, as we look at a million new veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who deserve our care, for those of us who represent soldiers' homes and hospitals for the VA, we know just how important this is. We know what happens to Alzheimer's patients who are going to lose the deduction on healthcare. We know what is going to happen to those students who currently write off parts of their student loans through interest deductions. We know the assessed tax that is going to go on places like the University of Notre Dame and others. We also understand that the homeowner deduction, the mortgage interest deduction, which is a huge middle class benefit, is about to be taken away arbitrarily. State and local taxes, in some cases sales taxes, are about to be abolished all based upon the premise of maybe there will be enough economic growth. There is no evidence, based on the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 or the repatriation that took place in 2004, that any of this is accurate, but they continue to proceed.…”