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Press Releases
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Children's Defense Fund Blasts Congress'
Decision to Pass Excessive Corporate Tax Bill |
Washington, D.C. The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) today denounced the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate for considering a $140 billion corporate tax break bill that is sadly mislabeled the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004." The bill was initially created to address a $5 billion-a-year export subsidy prohibited under international trade agreements, but Congress showed little restraint in bowing to the demands of corporate lobbyists for special favors. The bill lavishes unnecessary tax breaks on some of America's largest and most profitable corporations, including General Electric, ExxonMobil, Eli Lilly, Hewlett-Packard, CSX Corp. and Starbucks, as well as electric utilities, movie studios, oil and gas interests, mining and timber operations and NASCAR track owners, to name just a few. These tax breaks have failed our children and are being handed out even though corporate tax payments are already approaching their all-time low as a percentage of the gross domestic product.
Congress made this offensive bill even worse by approving a $10-billion buyout of tobacco growers without allowing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products and the marketing of those products to children. The tobacco buyout had been paired with the increased regulatory role of the FDA until this week, when the House Republican leadership insisted that it be removed. The final votes on the tax bill could come today in the House and Friday in the Senate. "As Congress adjourns for the upcoming elections, they have once again demonstrated warped tax priorities at the expense of America's most vulnerable children," said Marian Wright Edelman, President of CDF. "It is outrageous that instead of providing more child health insurance or fully funding Head Start so that all eligible low-income children could enroll, Congress is lining the pockets of profitable corporations."
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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds. |
