December 20, 2020 (Washington, D.C.) – Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), who is expected to chair Congress’ Joint Economic Committee in the next session of Congress, issued the following statement today on the three-year anniversary of the passage of the 2017 Republican tax bill:

“In negotiating pandemic relief legislation, Senate Republicans argued it would be too expensive to send Americans even one more round of $1,200 checks. Three years ago today they passed tax cuts for large corporations they claimed would ‘pay for themselves,’ a claim they knew to be false.

“Senate Republicans have reportedly cut the enhanced federal benefits in half from CARES Act levels, and halved the duration of those benefits compared to House-passed legislation. Three years ago they passed an extraordinarily regressive tax bill that gave most benefits to the very wealthy.

“Today Senate Republicans are fighting to limit or reduce food and rental assistance to needy families on the edge of disaster. Three years ago these same Senate Republicans passed legislation with a provision that exclusively benefitted households worth over $22 million.

“Three years ago the economy was still riding the wave of the Obama recovery, and Senate Republicans shrugged off long term fiscal concerns as they cut taxes for millionaires. Today, as Senate Republicans penny-pinch working people, American families are racked with fear and uncertainty, many are suffering some of the worst economic misery they have ever seen. The contrast is utterly appalling.”