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House to vote on child tax credit ThursdayMeasure part of broader tax bill
From Ted Barrett
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House is set to vote Thursday on a broad $81 billion tax relief package, backed by GOP leaders, including a provision to extend a child tax credit to low-income families left out of a major tax cut enacted last month. The pending move, announced Tuesday by House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas, R-California, likely means more tough negotiations with the Senate, which has already approved a more modest bill. House GOP leaders unveiled their bill to President Bush at a White House meeting Tuesday afternoon. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer stressed the president's interest in getting the child tax credit expanded quickly. "What the president wants at the end of the day is to make sure that the Congress delivers, that action be taken, that child credits promised are child credits delivered," Fleischer told reporters. The White House had earlier signaled that it favored a stand-alone measure for the child tax credit, like the version passed by the Senate. Meanwhile, the Children's Defense Fund, a liberal-minded interest group, organized a rally on Capitol Hill to focus attention on the issue. About 100 parents pushing strollers marched from a park to the office of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has said that the child tax credit must be included as part of a broader bill. "If they want the child tax credit, they ought to be able to have it in a package that actually gives tax relief, creates jobs and helps the economy grow," DeLay, R-Texas, said Tuesday. That means the House bill would have to be reconciled with the much-smaller $10 billion Senate measure. The Senate bill was rushed through in response to an outcry from Democrats and interest groups upset that lower-wage families didn't get the $400 per child increase available to middle-income families. Thomas called the House bill a response to the Senate bill, which he said was written by senators motivated by their 2004 re-election concerns. Millions of American families, many of whom do not pay any income tax, are not eligible for the increase in the child tax credit signed into law by Bush two weeks ago. Democrats have been putting enormous pressure on GOP leaders to change the bill so that those lower-income families would qualify to receive $400 per child this summer from the government. Keeping with DeLay's promise to marry new child tax relief with other tax cuts, the House bill will also extend the life of the child tax credit to 2010, beyond its current phase out date of 2005, and allow higher-income married couples to claim a larger credit than was allowed in the last tax bill. In addition, the bill will provide a number of tax cuts for members of the military and for the families of astronauts who died in the space shuttle Columbia disaster. The bill suspends the tax-exempt status of organizations designated as terrorist organizations by the White House. The top Democrat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee said the proposal is proof the Republicans are not "compassionate" when it comes to poor families. "The fact that the House Republicans would hold tax relief for working families hostage until they get even more tax cuts shows a disdain for the poor," said Rep. Charlie Rangel, a New York Democrat. During a week that was expected to be dominated by congressional negotiations to create a prescription drug benefit for Medicare recipients, the child tax credit bill grabbed center stage. House Democrats used parliamentary maneuvers to slow unrelated floor debate and speak out on the issue. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, urged swift passage of the child tax credit increase for low-income families at a prayer gathering earlier in the day. "Congress must act and it must act now. We must continue our prayers relentlessly until it extends the child tax credit and fulfills the solemn commitment we have as a nation that truly values our children," Pelosi said. Announcement of the House bill came on the same day the Congressional Budget Office reported the budget deficit is expected to grow to $400 billion this year. The House bill will add to the deficit because it does not include any spending cuts to offset its cost. --Congressional Correspondent Kate Snow contributed to this report.
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