House Passes GOP Tax Cut Bill

December 19, 2017 at 09:30 AM
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The House of Representatives passed by a 227-203 vote Tuesday H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The final GOP tax cut bill now moves to the Senate, where a vote is expected later in the day. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the legislation into law as soon as Wednesday.

In the House, 12 republicans voted against the bill, while all democrats voted no.

Last week, "we came together in a House-Senate Conference Committee — which I had the honor of leading — to deliver one unified, transformational tax reform bill for the American people," said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas.

"This bill is — and always has been — focused on delivering more jobs, fairer taxes, and bigger paychecks to hardworking Americans nationwide."

But Democrats lambasted the bill Tuesday on the House floor before the vote.

"Republicans have made clear that cuts to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are next," said Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.

"What happened to the postcard?" asked Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., referring to the simplification of tax filing that Republicans had promised."You're going to need a billboard to understand what's in this bill."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., countered in his Tuesday floor comments supporting the bill's passage that "nearly nine out of 10 Americans will be able to do their taxes on a form the size of a postcard."

With the bill, the Republicans are "adding $1.5 trillion to the national debt," Neal added. "Merry Christmas."

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the minority whip, said that "history will indeed remember this vote," stating that the legislation "increases taxes for 86 million middle-class households" and that it "will trigger a $25 million cut in Medicare."

Hoyer called the legislation "dangerous and partisan."

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., said he opposed the bill "with all the bones in my body," calling it a "gift to Wall Street" and the rich that was "conceived in the dark of night."

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