Congressman Cleaver Released the Following Statement Regarding the Passage of the GOP Tax Bill

Statement

Today, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II voted in opposition to the Conference Report on H.R. 1 -- the GOP Tax Bill.

"Today, Republicans in Congress voted to pass their tax bill which was written in secret and rushed through the House and Senate without any public hearings. This tax hike, wrapped in a bow and advertised as a gift for the American people, is a scam and middle class and poor families will pay the price. The bill will raise taxes on 86 million middle-class households and provide 83% of tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans.

In our state alone, Missouri will lose $500 million to $1 billion in state revenue. That impacts the quality of education our students receive, the amount of money we have to repair our roads and bridges, and on and on. In addition, because this tax bill repeals the individual mandate, it will increase health care costs for Missouri residents and cause 13 million people to lose health insurance.

I'm disappointed that Republicans' first priority is tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, rather than reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), funding community health centers, passing the DREAM Act, and providing disaster relief funding."

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