DeLauro: “We Have A Moral Obligation To Our Nation’s Troops”

Republican Plan Would Raise Taxes on Military Families

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today denounced the Republican tax plan that would raise taxes on middle-class military families while cutting taxes for millionaires. Their plan, passed yesterday by the House of Representatives, would severely curtail or end vitally important tax cuts for working and middle class families, including slashing the Child Tax Credit by an average of nearly $854 for nearly nine million families, pushing two million children into poverty.

“We have a moral obligation to our nation’s troops and their families and raising taxes on people who make great sacrifices serving our country is simply immoral,” DeLauro said. “Why are we protecting tax breaks for millionaires while putting working Americans through the ringer? It shows where the GOP’s values lie and that is not with the hundreds of millions of Americans who revere our brave service-members and their families.”

The Center for American Progress recently released a report on how the Republican plan would harm military families. For example:

• A married Marine corporal with four years of service and two children would see a $448 tax increase
• A married Air Force staff sergeant with eight years of service and three young children would see a $1,118 tax increase
• A married Army private in his first year of service with an infant would see a $273 tax increase

By contrast, the Democratic alternative—which the Senate has already passed and the President has said he will sign—cuts taxes for 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses. It would also continue the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and American Opportunity Tax Credit.