Jeff Bingaman: “a little over two weeks ago, I sat down with several Albuquerque families who are working hard to pay the bills, put…”

“a little over two weeks ago, I sat down with several Albuquerque families who are working hard to pay the bills, put food on the table, and give their children a good home. Among those gathered at the meeting, there was Carol Howell, who is struggling with the help of her husband to make ends meet and raise four children. And there was Jan Usinger, a divorced mother with a Masters degree in French, working three jobs to build a decent life for her three children. Each of the families I met were perfect examples of who should reap the benefits of any tax relief package produced by Congress. And yet, what brought us together that day was the sad fact that none of these families would be able to claim the highly-touted $500 per child tax credit in the bill passed by the Senate --not because they earned too much money, but because they earned too little. In the eyes of some in Congress, these families were not rich enough to deserve the full child tax credit. Some even argued that to give hard-working families making about $25,000 a year a tax break was like giving them welfare. I'm pleased to say that in the heated debate that took place in Washington over who should be allowed to claim the child tax credit, these families finally won--and they won big. Jan Usinger, who would have seen only $6 in tax relief from the child credit under the House bill, will now get a tax break of $1,500 in the final bill negotiated between the President and Congress.”