Congressman Cohen's Statement on the Passage of the AMT Relief

The people of Memphis and Shelby County are feeling the effects of the economic downturn, and middle income families are struggling to make house payments, fill up their gas tanks and pay for the skyrocketing costs of food and higher education. I am very pleased that the AMT Relief Act will ensure that families are not forced to pay higher taxes under the Alternative Minimum Tax.

The AMT was originally designed to guarantee that very wealthy individuals don’t avoid paying income tax. However, the tax now threatens to impact middle-income families, including teachers and firefighters. This bill is just a start, though, because these families will be threatened with the AMT again next year. That is why I support a permanent fix to the AMT to make sure that these taxes never again threaten middle and lower income families for whom they were never intended.

The bill we passed tonight will cut taxes for more than 25 million of America’s working families, and over 20,000 citizens in the 9th District, and I am proud that we were able to help these people in troubled economic times by passing this legislation.

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