Congressman Eliot Engel Speaks Out Against GOP Tax Plan on House Floor
Bryant Daniels, Director of Public Affairs, Office of Congressman Eliot L. Engel
Nov. 15, 2017: Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a top member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, took to the House to condemn House Republicans’ plan to overhaul the tax code by providing large tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations while eliminating critical deductions for New Yorkers like state and local income tax, mortgages, and charitable donations, among others.
“It’s a classic bait-and-switch,” Engel said in his remarks. “It may look like middle class people are getting a tax break, but when you add on all the deductions that they will no longer be able to take, it’s a negative for the middle class.”
The full transcript of Congressman Engel’s floor remarks can be found below.
Thank you Mr. Speaker, and let’s put rhetoric aside when it comes to the Republican tax bill. This is a bill that gives tremendous tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, while it hits the middle class. It may look like middle class people are getting a tax break, but when you add on all the deductions that they will no longer be able to take, it’s a negative for the middle class.
Government is always accused of giving you something in one hand and taking it back the other hand, a classic bait-and-switch. That’s what this bill is about, and in my home state of New York, which is a high-tax state, people will no longer have the ability to deduct state and local taxes or deduct mortgage interest to the degree that they have now.
So when you add it all up, what does it do? Higher taxes for the middle class and lower taxes for millionaires and billionaires like our president—a classic bait-and-switch. New York is a donor state. We give more money to the federal government than we get back, and this is just hitting New York in the head again. We should be protecting the middle class and letting people who can afford to pay more – millionaires and billionaires – pay more and not the other way around. And finally, whatever happened to the fiscal responsibility of the Republican Party? This blows a hole in the deficit, $1.75 trillion over 10 years.
Photo courtesy Office of Congressman Eliot L. Engel
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Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.
While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.
Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.
The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.
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