January 8, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 3 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              EXTENSION OF CHILD TAX CREDIT TO PUERTO RICO

  (Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Miss GONZALEZ-COLON of Puerto Rico. Mr. Speaker, today I introduced 
the Child Tax Credit Equity for Puerto Rico Act of 2019.
  Under current law, in Puerto Rico, the child tax credit only applies 
to families who are raising three or more children.
  In comparison, families living in the mainland are able to use this 
credit for having even one or two children. Small families consisting 
of one or two children in Puerto Rico are excluded from receiving this 
necessary benefit.
  The purpose of the child tax credit is to be a tool to help families 
offset the expenses of raising children and raise themselves out of 
poverty.
  Mississippi has the highest poverty level of any State. Puerto Rico's 
poverty rate, now at 45 percent, is 178 percent higher than 
Mississippi.
  According to the Census Bureau, the lowest household income of Puerto 
Rico is $19,000 a year, compared to $43,000 in the State of Mississippi 
and $61,000, average, in the whole mainland.
  This proposal will help Puerto Rico's economy and benefit about 
355,000 families and more than 404,000 children in Puerto Rico.
  I urge my colleagues to support and pass this bill, and I thank 
Congressmen Jose Serrano, Fitzpatrick, and Duffy for being original 
cosponsors of this bill.

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