LIEBERMAN STATEMENT ON CONFERENCE REPORT

WASHINGTON, DC- Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) today released the following statement on his vote on the Conference Report extending the payroll tax cut:

“Today I joined the majority of my colleagues in voting to adopt the conference report extending the payroll tax cut, I supported this measure because it will prevent a tax increase on 160 million Americans, ensure Medicare access for America's seniors by delaying a scheduled 27.4 percent cut to Medicare doctors’ reimbursements, and extend unemployment benefits while we work our way out of the recession. Nonetheless, I cast my vote today with great reluctance. This package represents yet another abdication of our responsibility to reduce our nation’s swelling debt. By approving some $100 billion in new debt today, we will make the task of deficit reduction all that more difficult in the future. Moreover, because of our failure to act on the type of fundamental entitlement and tax reforms necessary to get our fiscal house in order, this package instead requires that we cut Medicare and other programs in a haphazard manner, a true disservice to all Americans who depend on them. Nevertheless, in the end, I voted to help millions of working Americans in need in the hope that this legislation will strengthen the economic recovery that seems to be beginning now across America."

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