Meghan Hughes (202) 224-5972 or Kevin Bishop (864) 250-1417

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today made this statement on his support of the bill to extend the Bush tax cuts for another two years.

"The Obama Administration agreeing to extend the tax cuts for all Americans is one of the first dividends from the election of more Republicans to the House and Senate.

"I have long believed it was absolutely imperative all of the tax cuts be extended. Under this agreement no business or family will see their taxes go up at the start of 2011, as it extends the Bush tax cuts to stay in place for another two years. And while my personal preference would have been to make the tax cuts permanent, we do not have 60 votes in the Senate to make that happen.

"Taxes affect the ability of businesses to hire and retain workers. We have a national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent and South Carolina's is even higher at nearly 11 percent. Now is not the time to be raising taxes. If we raise taxes on individuals, families, and businesses in the middle of this weak economy, it makes it much harder to create jobs.

"Overall, I think the agreement is a good one for the American people. No agreement is ever perfect and there are, of course, areas I would have liked to see improved. But overall it is worth supporting as it will give certainty to those concerned about what a tax increase would mean to their businesses and family budgets."

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