Congressman Cohen Condemns Opening Thrust of GOP’s “Very Slanted Agenda”

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) went to the House floor Tuesday to condemn Republican rules passed in the opening legislative actions of the Republican majority, including passage of a measure to revoke spending for the IRS to go after tax cheats.

In his remarks, Congressman Cohen said in part:

“Yesterday, after four and a half days and 15 votes to find a House Speaker, we started with our business by passing rules. The Republican rules and first day’s activities were to help the rich and the powerful avoid taxes. The government, like any entity, just like any business, has to have revenue, and when people don’t pay their fair share, they’re cheating, they’re committing crimes, they’re defrauding their fellow citizens, because their fellow citizens either have to pay more money to make up the difference or they don’t get the services they otherwise would be provided by the government…You need to look closely at what’s going on here. A lot of things that look good on the front really aren’t fair.”

Congressman Cohen also noted that H. Con Res. 3, to be considered on Wednesday, is designed to protect anti-abortion groups against violence but not organizations such as Planned Parenthood which, he said, in fairness, deserve equal protections.

See Congressman Cohen’s entire remarks here.

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