Press Releases

Rep. Don Beyer today issued the following statement upon passage of H.R. 1, the GOP bill to cut taxes for the wealthy:

“One month ago, when the House passed an early version of this bill, I asked how any of my colleagues could vote for legislation “that will raise taxes on millions of middle class Americans in order to fund tax cuts for the wealthy, and yet still manages to explode the deficit?” Today the Republican majority somehow passed an even worse bill.

The tax bill just passed by the House would raise taxes on 86 million households over the next decade, according to a nonpartisan estimate, while 83 percent of the benefits go to the wealthiest 1 percent. They specifically lowered rates for the highest bracket and exempted multi-millionaires from the estate tax, while making the meager cuts for the middle class temporary. They have also included attacks on the Affordable Care Act which will kick an estimated 13 million Americans off their health insurance and lead to higher premiums for working families.

At its core, this bill is an immoral redistribution of wealth towards the richest among us at a cost of trillions of dollars, and I believe that those who voted for this monstrosity will be held accountable.”

The tax bill, H.R. 1, passed today over bipartisan opposition without receiving a single Democratic vote. Congress’ budgetary scorekeeper, the Congressional Budget Office, estimated that its effective repeal of a key piece of the Affordable Care Act will lead to 13 million more uninsured Americans by 2027. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimated that the legislation will lead to tax increases on 86 million households by 2027 while giving 83 percent of its cuts to the wealthiest 1 percent of the country.