94 Senators Try a Fix

The Senate tries to fix one part of history's worst tax-cut bill:

WASHINGTON, June 5 — The Senate voted overwhelmingly today to give an increased child tax credit to millions of low-income families who did not receive it in the new tax law, moving rapidly to quell an issue that Democrats had used to portray Republicans as brutish toward the poor. The vote was 94 to 2. Both opponents, Senators Don Nickles and James M. Inhofe, are Republicans from Oklahoma. Mr. Nickles said he objected to increasing the refund to people who did not pay federal income taxes. The bill, which would allow 6.5 million minimum-wage families to begin receiving checks of $400 per child, now goes to the House, where its prospects are uncertain. Two senior House Republican officials said today that House leaders would vote for the increased child credit only as part of a much broader tax bill that could cost the Treasury about $100 billion. That could cost the bill Senate support. The Senate bill is projected to pay for itself with increased customs fees and would not come at a cost to the Treasury.