Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner told reporters on Monday that Congress passed a “reasonable bill” to extend the payroll tax cut for one year while the Senate only passed a bill with a two-month extension, questioning why Congress “always” has to “go to the lowest common denominator.”
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“What I’m suggesting is that the president asked for a full-year extension. We agree with the president. Democrat leaders have said the same thing over the last two weeks — that we should do this for the full year.
“Why do we always have to go to the lowest common denominator,” Boehner asked. “It’s time for us to do our work. We’re prepared to do our work.”
“We believe that we passed a reasonable bill that extended all of this for a year. If there are differences between the bodies, we ought to be able to resolve them.”
The bill, passed by the Senate on Saturday, pays for the two-month payroll tax extension by raising fees on new mortgages beginning next year.
“Tonight the House will vote on the Senate-passed bill. This is a vote on whether Congress will stay and do its work or go on vacation. I expect that the House will disagree with the Senate amendment and instead vote to formally go to conference —the formal process in which the House and Senate can resolve differences between the two chambers and between our two bills,” Boehner said.
“And I expect the House to take up legislation that reinforces the need to extend the payroll tax relief for a full year rather than just two months, again to provide certainty for job creators.”