Is this helping families or welfare dependence & debt the sequel!?
https://www.msn.com
President Biden on Thursday hailed the expanded child tax credit as a "transformative" achievement that would offer needed relief for families and made the case for Congress to further extend the payments in forthcoming legislation.
Joe Biden wearing a suit and tie: President Biden speaks about the child tax credit© Getty Images President Biden speaks about the child tax credit
In remarks from the White House, Biden said the payments would spur the largest one-year decrease in child poverty in the United States and outlined how eligible families can expect to receive payments or sign up to receive them. Experts say that the tax credit could slash child poverty in half.
"It's a reflection of our belief that the people of this country who need a tax cut aren't the folks at the top - they've gotten plenty of tax cuts, they're doing fine - but it's the people in the middle, the folks who are struggling or who are just looking for a little bit of, as my dad would say, a little breathing room," Biden said.
Biden spoke to an audience that included nine families that will benefit from the child tax credit relief payments. A child was occasionally heard crying during his remarks, which Biden acknowledged and told the family, "don't worry about it."
Vice President Harris delivered her remarks before Biden, offering a personal anecdote about her own experience growing up before emphasizing the impact the monthly payments will have for families.
"If the struggle to make ends meet is monthly, the solution has to be also," Harris said.
The Treasury Department and IRS began distributing the first batch of monthly child tax credit payments Thursday, sending payments to roughly 35 million families with almost 60 million children. The payments total roughly $15 billion. The expanded child tax credit payments are funded by the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill that Biden signed into law in March, his first major legislative accomplishment as president.
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