Robert Torricelli: “As Members of the Senate proceed to Thanksgiving Day celebrations with our families, there is little we can offer to the…”

“As Members of the Senate proceed to Thanksgiving Day celebrations with our families, there is little we can offer to the victims of September 11 but our prayers and our good hopes. But in this final act of the Senate, before we recess, perhaps there is something of this world we can do of some meaning for the children and the widows and the widowers who remain. For these families, September 11 is the crisis that never ends. Even as the dead are buried and families reconstitute themselves, they are faced, every day, with the living reality of life without someone they loved--a father, a mother without a paycheck or savings or a financial future. They need our prayers. They need our support and our encouragement. But they also need our help. I think H.R. 2884, as amended by the Senate Finance Committee, for this holiday, offers the hand of the American people to our neighbors. It very simply extends current American policy which waives Federal tax liability to the families of American soldiers or civilian employees of the U.S. Government who are killed in combat or in terrorist actions. This extension would now include American citizens whose family members were killed on September 11, 2001, in New York and Virginia. First, liability for Federal income taxes will be waived for this year and last year. Any moneys previously paid will be refunded.”