HOUSE DEMOCRATIC WOMEN CALL ON PRESIDENT BUSH TO INTERVENE WITH GOP HOUSE LEADERSHIP ON BEHALF OF 6.5 MILLION WORKING FAMILIES DENIED EXPANDED CHILD TAX CREDIT
HOUSE DEMOCRATIC WOMEN CALL ON PRESIDENT BUSH TO INTERVENE WITH GOP HOUSE LEADERSHIP ON BEHALF OF 6.5 MILLION WORKING FAMILIES DENIED EXPANDED CHILD TAX CREDIT
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Writing to President Bush on behalf of the 12 million children and the 6.5 million working families who have been denied an increase in the child tax credit, House Democratic Women members called on the President to "intervene immediately to persuade the House leadership to accept the Senate-passed version of the expanded child tax credit," before Congress recesses this week.
"The Senate bill would provide a modest but essential child tax credit, one that is especially needed by the nearly 4 million single mothers and the one million stay-at-home mothers whose families were left out of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. In fact, as a recent National Women's Law Center report concluded, two-thirds of the parents excluded from the expanded child tax credit provisions are women," the members continued.
"Beginning on July 25, checks will go out to some families, but 6.5 million working families - primarily headed by women - will be left out. We must not let that happen," they concluded.
Those signing the letter are: Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky; Louise Slaughter; Carolyn Maloney; Eddie Bernice Johnson; Donna Christensen; Stephanie Tubbs Jones; Zoe Lofgren; Linda Sanchez; Betty McCollum; Lois Capps; Barbara Lee; Susan Davis; Hilda Solis; Tammy Baldwin; Sheila Jackson Lee; Rosa DeLauro; Lynn Woolsey; Nydia Velazquez; Jane Harman; Marcy Kaptur; Maxine Waters; Darlene Hooley; Grace Napolitano; Carolyn Kilpatrick; Karen McCarthy; Juanita Millender-McDonald; Ellen Tauscher; Carolyn McCarthy; Madeleine Bordallo; Nita Lowey; Lucille Roybal-Allard; Diana DeGette; Loretta Sanchez; Anna Eshoo; Eleanor Holmes Norton; Diane Watson; Julia Carson; Denise Majette; and Corrine Brown.
The full text of the letter to President Bush is attached:
July 22, 2003
The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Bush:
We are writing to request that you intervene immediately to persuade the House leadership to accept the Senate-passed version of the expanded child tax credit. Without your direct action, we are greatly concerned that Congress will recess this week without acting, denying needed assistance to 12 million children, including 1 million children in military families.
The failure to act to restore the child tax credit would disproportionately harm women and their children. The Senate bill would provide a modest but essential child tax credit, one that is especially needed by the nearly 4 million single mothers and the one million stay-at-home mothers whose families were left out of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. In fact, as a recent National Women's Law Center report concluded, two-thirds of the parents excluded from the expanded child tax credit provisions are women.
These are hard-working parents, striving to do the best for their children and struggling on limited salaries to meet their financial needs. They pay taxes, they contribute to their communities, and they deserve to receive their child tax credit just like other families. Working women and stay-at-home mothers should not be punished because their family income is less than $26,625 a year.
Mr. President, it is up to you to make sure that Congress doesn't go home without restoring the child tax credit. Beginning on July 25, checks will go out to some families, but 6.5 million working families - primarily headed by women - will be left out. We must not let that happen.