Shelley Berkley: “I came here today to vote for an across-the-board tax cut, but the tax cut that I support must be fair, it must be…”

“I came here today to vote for an across-the-board tax cut, but the tax cut that I support must be fair, it must be responsible, and it must ensure that this country pays down its national debt. Sadly, this tax bill does none of these things. When my constituents in southern Nevada sit down to figure out how much of their paychecks they can afford to spend, they know better than to spend money they do not have, or money that they need to pay their bills, or money that they might earn in the future. Unfortunately, this Congress has not learned these simple lessons. We are getting ready to pass a very large tax cut. How will this tax cut affect our education system, our seniors, our prescription medication plan, our veterans, our military? We do not know, because we have not got a budget yet. I want to pass a large tax cut but to do so without a budget, without protecting Social Security and Medicare, without paying off our national debt is irresponsible and inappropriate. We should be here voting on a bipartisan bill that fits our budget and helps American families. We are not. We are attempting to ram something through without hearings, without input, without reasoning. It is very disappointing, Mr. Speaker. I cannot condone this process, and I am not going to be a party to it.”