WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman André Carson issued the following statement regarding today's vote in the House of Representatives to extend tax cuts for income under $250,000. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

"Today, the House approved a measure to permanently maintain tax cuts on income under $250,000. This means that nearly all Americans - even those who earn more than this threshold - will benefit from this plan. But more importantly, this bill extends much-needed relief for middle-class families, who would see average tax savings of approximately $1,000 per year.

"Not only do these tax cuts make sense for these families-they make sense for the economy. By not providing this relief, we would risk families cutting back on spending for goods and services, which would have a negative impact on retail and other industries that drive economic growth.

"For reasons beyond me, my Republican colleagues chose to not support these tax relief measures today. Instead of voting to help 97 percent of American taxpayers, they stood against this legislation because it did not include additional tax cuts for the wealthiest three percent of Americans. Furthermore, the Republicans want middle-class tax-payers to shoulder the future burden of paying for these breaks for the rich-a move that would add $700 billion to our deficit over the next 10 years.

"I hope this glaring example of grossly out-of-touch policy is not a sign of things to come for the new Republican majority. We have a lot of work that remains to be done to get our economy back on track. This work should not include further lining the pockets of millionaires and billionaires, especially when it comes at the expense of future generations."

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