Extension of President Bush's 2001 & 2003 Tax Cuts Approved by U.S. Senate and Prolife Provisions Approved by U.S. House

The pro-family movement won victories in both the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives this week. On Tuesday, the Senate passed -- by a margin of 93-2 -- a giant tax package which saves more than 20 million taxpayers from having to pay the so-called alternative minimum tax. President George W. Bush has been trying all during his administration to make permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for American families, but a liberal majority in Congress have prevented these tax cuts from being made permanent.

Even liberal Democrat, Senator Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman from Montana, said that since the economy is struggling, "At times like these, Americans need tax cuts that they've come to count on, that can help them get by." Unfortunately, his party compatriots have been playing politics with these tax cuts and the Bush tax cuts are ALL set to expire in 2010.

On the other side of the U.S. Capitol Building, the bipartisan Congressional House Prolife Caucus reported that when the United States House of Representatives passed the Continuing Resolution (CR) for FY2009 on Wednesday, the pro-life provisions contained in the FY2008 Appropriations bills were all included in the final bill. This is a great victory for the pro-life movement since the 110th Congress is controlled by the Democrats and the majority of Members in the House of Representatives are pro-abortion. The House passed the continuing resolution by a margin of 370-38. The Senate as of Wednesday night had not yet scheduled floor time for consideration of the continuing resolution to keep the government funded until spring of next year.

The House Prolife Caucus also reported that under the normal appropriations process, each appropriation bill would contain a listing of every pro-life rider. However, since this bill carries forward from last year any policy or funding level not specifically altered in the bill, pro-life riders are retained unless language is included to undermine them. No such language has been identified, so the pro-life policies and “riders” as contained in the FY08 appropriation bills are intact. The House Prolife Caucus is to be commended for all its hard work in keeping the prolife provisions in such a challenging atmosphere.