Congressman Ted Deutch (FL-21) issued this statement after House Republicans' suspended statutory pay-go rules to pass H.R. 4438, a research and development tax bill that adds $156 billion to the federal deficit: 

“My Republican colleagues apparently live in a fantasy world where spending billions of dollars through the tax code has no impact on the deficit. Those who voted to pass the first of several tax bills that together will grow our deficit by $310 billion are the same Republicans who have blocked a fully-paid-for plan to extend unemployment insurance for America’s job-seekers, bipartisan immigration reform that will reduce our deficit by $900 billion, and commonsense ways to grow our economy that don’t cost taxpayers a penny, like raising the minimum wage for 25 million Americans. 

“There is just no honest way to reconcile the Majority’s vote on the R&D tax credit today with the Ryan budget they passed just weeks ago, which dismantles the federal government’s support for scientific research and innovation. Expanding national investments in research, science, and innovation is vital to ensuring America’s competitive edge, and that is why I voted for a Democratic budget that pays for those investments by closing wasteful giveaways to dirty energy companies, outsourcers, and other special interests.

“I am ready to work with my colleagues on any bill that responsibly extends the R&D tax credit. Sadly, today's legislation falls woefully short of that minimum standard.”