Congressman Cohen Proposes Amendment to Economic Recovery Bill

“I believe that any economic recovery legislation we consider in the 111th Congress should be targeted specifically toward those most in need of this legislation: low and middle-income working families,” said Congressman Cohen. “Time and again under the Bush Administration, laws were enacted that benefited only the very wealthy and turned a blind eye toward working families. We should set the tone for this new Congress today by adopting measures to restore fairness in our tax code. We cannot afford to squander precious recovery plan dollars by giving tax cuts to people who don’t need them.”

According to the Congressional Research Service, if the phase-out limits proposed in the Cohen Amendment are adopted, the savings would equal almost $16 billion. In the current rescue plan, there is only $1 billion for COPS and $3.5 billion for NIH. The Cohen Amendment would provide an additional $7.9 billion for COPS and an additional $7.9 billion to NIH.

“Money invested in the COPS program and the NIH is a down payment on the long-term health of our country,” said Congressman Cohen. “According to the most recent data acquired by the U.S. Census, real median household national income was $50,233 in 2007. In Tennessee, the figure is $41,521; and in the 9th District, it’s $35,914. These are the households that need our assistance now to get through this crisis.”

Congressman Cohen added, “I also hoped to include an amendment which would change the law to allow homeowners to restructure the terms of their mortgage under bankruptcy court protection. While this measure has garnered strong support from President Obama and House leaders, we have decided to postpone this proposal for a later date. However, as the new Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, which has jurisdiction over matters related to bankruptcy, I am confident that we can change current unfair bankruptcy laws and start to put a floor on this mortgage debacle sooner rather than later.”

# # #

Contact:
Marilyn Dillihay, Press Secretary, 202-225-3265
Charlie Gerber, Communications Assistant, 202-225-3265