WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement Thursday after the House passed its version of the Republican tax overhaul:

“It is disappointing, but not surprising that the House Republicans just voted to give the Koch brothers and other billionaire campaign contributors a massive tax break. Under the House bill, the top 1 percent would get half of the tax benefits, while nearly half of middle class families would see their taxes go up. As bad as the House bill is, the Senate tax plan is even worse. It would raise taxes on all middle-class families making $75,000 or less by the end of the decade in order to provide permanent tax relief to profitable corporations that shift American jobs to China and American profits to the Cayman Islands. Meanwhile, it would throw 13 million Americans off of health insurance, cut Medicaid by $179 billion and substantially raise premiums on Americans throughout the country. This legislation must be defeated. We need tax relief for the middle class, not the billionaire class.”