(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement after she voted on legislation to extend the payroll tax cuts, prevent workers from being cut off from unemployment insurance, and make sure seniors can continue to access their doctors through Medicare. The bill passed the full Senate today on a 60-36 vote.
“This bipartisan bill is a big win for Washington state families and workers. I am disappointed that it took this long for Republicans to agree to a full-year extension, but I am glad that we were finally able to get this done for the middle class families and seniors who were counting on it.
“This bill will put more money in the pockets of the middle class, it will prevent unemployment insurance from being cut off for millions of Americans while they are fighting to get back on the job, and it will make sure seniors continue to be able to access the doctors they count on.
“It’s not a perfect bill, but we had to make a number of painful concessions to get Republicans on board with the critical payroll tax cut for the middle class.
“I fought hard to pay for the middle class tax cut by calling on the wealthiest Americans to pay just a little bit more toward their fair share. But once again, Republicans demonstrated that they care more about protecting the richest Americans from paying more in taxes than just about anything else. They would rather add to the deficit and penalize middle class workers like correctional officers and nurses who care for veterans than ask millionaires and billionaires to contribute even a penny more toward our nation’s recovery. And I think that’s simply wrong.
“I am glad that Republicans joined us to pass this bill, and I hope that this bipartisanship continues as we work to bring legislation to the floor that will aid in our economic recovery and support the middle class families who need it most.”
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