20-Dec-11 5:00 PM CST

Rep. John Culberson: "This is not complicated"

Congressman John Culberson (TX-07) issued the following statement on the Middle Class Tax Relief & Job Creation Act:

“This is not complicated. The House bill keeps everyone’s payroll taxes stable for one year. The Senate bill allows everyone’s taxes to go up in two months.

“The House bill requires people who get an unemployment check to prove they are looking for work or completing a GED or college degree. The Senate took this out.

“The House bill allows states to require you to submit to a drug test to receive unemployment benefits. The Senate took this out.

“The House bill permits business owners to immediately expense 100 percent of new investments, dollar-for-dollar, in the current year tax return. The Senate took this out.

“The House bill protects American industrial boiler manufacturers from being shut down by unachievable Obama EPA restrictions. The Senate took this out.

“The House bill stops welfare recipients from using their Lone Star-type cards at ATM machines in casinos, strip clubs and liquor stores. The Senate took this out.

“The House bill cuts off unemployment and food stamps payments to millionaires. The Senate took this out.

“The House bill requires people to produce a Social Security number before receiving a refundable child tax credit. The Senate took this out.

“The House bill protects doctors from a 27 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement payments for two years. The Senate only protects them for two months.

“These are dramatic and important differences that are unacceptable under any common sense standard. I agree with Speaker Boehner that we should always do the right thing for the right reason. The House bill is the right thing for the right reason.

“We must follow the rules everyone learned in Civics 101. When there is a difference in the bills in the House and the Senate, we go to Conference to work them out as soon as possible. I am ready to do just that and I am prepared to stay for as long as it takes to make sure that no one’s taxes go up; and we preserve as many of the House-passed common sense provisions as possible.”

Click hereto watch Congressman Culberson’s speech on the House floor.