CHAIRMAN JEFFRIES: “THE CHILD TAX CREDIT IS TRANSFORMATIVE AND NOT A SINGLE REPUBLICAN VOTED FOR IT”
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Vice Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) held a leadership press conference where they highlighted the transformative effects of the American Rescue Plan, including the expanded child tax credit, which will put more money in the pockets of 90% of American families with children and cut child poverty in half.
CHAIRMAN JEFFRIES: We've had a very productive discussion today about how the Democratic Caucus' priority is working in partnership with the Biden administration as well as our colleagues in the Senate. From the very beginning we've been grappling with this deadly pandemic, which is both a public health crisis that has caused so much pain, suffering and death, as well as an economic crisis that has caused a tremendous amount of dislocation, particularly for poor working families and middle-class Americans.
We've had three objectives: crush the virus, provide direct relief to everyday Americans who are struggling and lay the foundation to revive our economy and create opportunity and prosperity in every single zip code. That continues to be our objective as we are moving forward and today, we spent a lot of time talking about the fact that one of the most transformative parts of the American Rescue Plan will begin to take effect.
We need to make sure that every single American, every single constituent that we represent, understands what's coming on July 15 of next month, when the child tax credit will take effect and the average American family with children will see approximately $500 in relief every single month for the rest of the year and hopefully beyond.
It will lift more than half the American children who are currently in poverty out of poverty and it will also benefit working families and middle-class Americans. More than 90% of the people in almost every single congressional district, families with children will benefit. It's transformative and not a single Republican, not a single one, voted for it. So the reality is that we are continuing to advance the ball on behalf of everyday Americans and they continue to play games in trying to suppress the vote and undermine our democracy.
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VICE CHAIR AGUILAR: The Chairman mentioned the work on the American Rescue Plan was the focus of our Caucus meeting and hearing firsthand from speakers and hearing from Members. Over 200 House and Senate members went to their districts and talked about the child tax credit, up to three hundred dollars per child for working families. These are the benefits that have meaningful and lasting impacts for our communities back home. These are the things that our communities are concerned about and we know, time and time again, that House Democrats continue to stand up to lift up our communities.
In the room, we thanked Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro for her years of leadership on this issue. She's been a champion of the child tax credit, making it permanent, extending that benefit that individuals and families are going to be seen next month. That is so important. That is such a high priority for our Caucus within the American Families Plan and the American Jobs Plan.
We're going to continue to talk about these things. The 320 million vaccines in arms, rising wages—those are the priorities in our communities. Those are the things that we keep hearing time and time again back home. We're going to continue to build on that success, but those are the priorities that we're focused on. There are many things here in D.C., obviously, that folks want to talk about, but making meaningful, lasting change in our communities with those proposals and those policies that we've enacted is at the forefront of our minds.
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Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
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