U.S. Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer 9th District of Missouri

Washington, Jan 1 -

U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today issued the following statement after voting in support of H.R. 8 to provide much-needed certainty to families and job creators by permanently cutting taxes for 99% of taxpayers:

"The fact of the matter is that on January 1, Americans were hit with the largest tax increase in history, and I believe it is critical to reverse this to the greatest extent possible so that hard-working families can keep more of their money. While this legislation is far from perfect, it provides permanent tax relief for 99 percent of taxpayers. In addition to permanently providing relief from higher tax rates, this bill provides certainty to farmers, ranchers and small business owners across Missouri and America by permanently fixing the estate tax exemption at $5 million per individual. It also prevents families from getting hit by the Alternative Minimum Tax by permanently fixing it, and also permanently extends the child tax credit and adoption tax credit. In addition to permanently cutting taxes, this bill also tackles a number of other issues on a more temporary basis, such as extending the expiring Farm Bill for the duration of the fiscal year – including reinstating expired livestock disaster assistance programs – and protecting seniors by staving off a 27 percent cut to Medicare physician reimbursements. Finally, this legislation stops members of Congress from receiving a pay raise and freezes congressional salaries through 2014. Although this bill provides certainty in many areas, Congress still must come together to make substantial spending cuts and true deficit reduction because we cannot afford not to do so. At the end of the day, I voted for this bill because it was critical to reverse the largest tax increase in American history to the greatest extent possible.”