Chris Van Hollen: “this bill provides tax relief to more than 24 million American families and corrects a huge inequity where many people…”

“this bill provides tax relief to more than 24 million American families and corrects a huge inequity where many people have been forced to pay taxes on phantom income, income they never earned. Today, we gather to fix two big problems left behind by the Republican Congress under President Bush. One is a huge middle-class tax increase that they left hanging over the heads of the American people, a tsunami, that if we don't act today, will crash down on 124 million American taxpayers. The Republican Congress under President Bush could have addressed this problem. They chose not to. It just was not a priority for them. They instead spent their time providing tax increases that went to the very wealthiest Americans and left the rest of the country holding the bag of $9 trillion debt, a debt that costs the American taxpayer $3,300 each year to pay the service on that debt, the debt that they ran up. Mr. Speaker, today we can pass tax relief in a fiscally responsible manner. Let's get it done.”