FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, January 1, 2013
CONTACT: CONTACT: Ian Koski at 202-224-4216

Statement from Senator Coons on vote to avert the “fiscal cliff”

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement early Tuesday morning after voting for a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff” and prevent taxes from going up on Delaware’s middle-class families.

“Ninety-eight percent of Americans, including middle class families and small businesses in Delaware, can breathe a sigh of relief if the House acts, as it should, to prevent dramatic tax increases from taking effect after the first of the year.

“This one step would blunt the impact of the fiscal cliff for the majority of Americans. The consequences for our middle class, our recovery and our economy would have been far graver had we not reached this deal, but there is still much more work to be done.

“The fiscal cliff was a manufactured crisis of Washington’s own making.  I am deeply disappointed in and frustrated by the failure to craft a big, balanced, bipartisan deal that achieved meaningful debt and deficit reduction by sharing the sacrifice to get our nation back on solid fiscal footing. Instead, we got the bare minimum, which was averting an income tax hike on middle class families, extending critical tax credits for families and businesses and ensuring unemployment insurance will be there for the thousands of Delaware families counting on it.

“Delawareans have consistently called on Washington to find areas of agreement and a way to work together. Preventing this middle class tax hike was one step, but we can’t stop here. Working together is not a sign of weakness, it’s a show of strength.”

###