Congress Has Failed Us!
December 21, 2017 (New York, NY) – In response to the GOP Tax Bill and the passage of a congressional stopgap spending bill that did not include a Dream Act bill or appropriate funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Hispanic Federation’s President Jose Calderon issued the following statement.
Congress has failed us. As our legislative leaders head home for the Christmas Recess, they have just approved a cynical and destructive tax bill that decimates working families, drives up our nation’s debt, sets us on a course for massive reductions in Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid, and does so with the sole purpose of giving millionaires and big business tax cuts they don’t need. At a time when effective corporate tax rates are at near-historic lows, the Congress has essentially handed corporations more money at the expense of common sense investments in education, health care, infrastructure and the environment. We are especially outraged about provisions in the bill that will punish Latino homeowners, undermine the Affordable Care Act, and, in a shocking act of purposeful cruelty, add an additional tax burden on Puerto Rico at a moment when the island needs economic stimulus.
Tax policies should reflect national values; our hopes and dreams as a nation. Unfortunately, it seems that only one thing guided the architects of this objectionable piece of legislation: greed.
Every single American should decry the values of a Congress that pushed their tax cut plan onto President Trump’s desk without the regular order of legislative hearings and scoring but could not find the time or the energy to adequately fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program or approve a permanent solution to the status of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrant young people through the DREAM Act. Rarely in recent American history has there been such a transparent decision to put profits over people.
Like many millions of Americans, we will not be silent in the face of this outrage. Hispanic Federation will not only continue to work with allies in Washington to blunt the worst excesses of this bill but also increase our civic engagement and voter registration and education campaigns so that our families and communities have the tools and information they need to make their voices heard on Election Day in 2018.
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About Hispanic Federation The mission of the Hispanic Federation is to empower and advance the Hispanic community. The Hispanic Federation provides grants and services to a broad network of Latino non-profit agencies serving the most vulnerable members of the Hispanic community and advocates nationally with respect to the vital issues of education, health, immigration, economic empowerment, civic engagement and the environment. For more information, please visit www.hispanicfederation.org.
