Menendez Named to Tax Conference Committee

Senator pledges to ‘fight like hell’ to stop GOP from gutting SALT deduction, hiking taxes on middle class Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, today issued the following statement after being named to a conference committee charged with reconciling Senate and House versions of the GOP tax legislation:

“From day one, Republicans showed no interest in working with Democrats on a bipartisan tax reform plan, and now they have to settle the differences between two versions of a partisan bill that raises taxes on millions of middle class families and hits New Jersey particularly hard.

“As a conferee, I will continue to fight like hell to stop Republicans from gutting the state and local tax deduction that over 40 percent of New Jersey taxpayers depend on to avoid double taxation, stripping health care coverage from 13 million Americans, and borrowing trillions from China just to cut taxes for big corporations.

“While the odds are stacked against us, anyone who knows me knows that I never back down from a fight, and in the days ahead I plan to use every minute and every tool at my disposal to protect middle class families, seniors, students, and millions of Americans in New Jersey and across this country from being sold out by Republicans whose number one priority is padding the pockets of corporate special interests.”