Press Releases

Congressman Larry Bucshon (IN-08) released the following comment in regards to the passage of H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011.  The bill passed by a vote of 234 to 193.

Congressman Bucshon (IN-08) states:

“It is important for me to support this legislation which will continue to help our unemployed Americans while it also creates jobs.  This legislation will benefit Hoosiers by keeping taxes low, protecting taxpayers from those that cheat the system, and help create jobs by moving forward on important projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline.  The Keystone XL pipeline will create 20,000 American jobs immediately and it’s important that we move this project forward.  The legislation also prevents severe cuts to Medicare providers which would have put seniors at risk for a more limited access to quality health care.

“I’m also pleased that my legislation, preventing illegal immigrants from receiving child tax credits, was included in this bill.  This proposal will save billions of taxpayer dollars and I’m glad that my colleagues have agreed with me and passed this necessary legislation to help cut wasteful spending.”

Background:

H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, included language from Congressman Bucshon’s bill, H.R.  3275, to require an individual Taxpayer Identification Number in absence of a Social Security Number.  This would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving tax credits and save an estimated $9.4 billion over 10 years.

On November 10, 2011 President Obama announced that the Keystone XL pipeline would be delayed until 2013.  The Keystone XL pipeline is estimated to bring 20,000 immediate jobs to the United States.  In response, according to Fox 16 News in Little Rock, AR, Welspun Tubular Company, which has produced 42% of the entire pipe that will be used to build XL, will begin layoffs and a temporary company shutdown.
 

H.R. 3630 also includes:

•    Unemployment Insurance reforms include allowing states to drug test, some state flexibility for how they implement their re-employment programs. It also reduces unemployment benefits from 99 weeks to 59 weeks.
•    Repeals provisions from PPACA including the overpayments piece ($13.4 billion) from the exchanges and $8 billion from the prevention fund
•    Prevents a 27 percent cut to doctors serving Medicare patients and replaces it with payment updates in 2012 and 2013; reforms and extends temporary Medicare payment provisions to ambulance services; outpatient therapy services; assistance for low-income seniors; and physician payments in certain areas.  Additionally, the legislation adopts a recommendation from President Obama that reduces subsidies to high-income seniors by requiring them to pay a greater share of their Part B and D premiums.  This change alone reduces spending by $31 billion in the next decade.

According to the American Medical Association, 1 in 3 primary care doctors is currently limiting Medicare patients and more than 1 in 8 is forced to refuse Medicare patients all together.

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