[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H1530]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE SAVANNAH HOPE STILLBIRTH CHILD TAX CREDIT

  (Mr. PAULSEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAULSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the author of the Savannah 
Hope Stillbirth Child Tax Credit Act, which would allow a one-time 
refundable tax credit after the stillbirth in a family, the same amount 
that is given for the existing child tax credit.
  The bill is named after Savannah Schumacher, a baby that Steve and 
Jill Schumacher from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, lost at 33 weeks.
  Mr. Speaker, families of stillborn children not only face medical 
expenses that aren't always covered by insurance, but they face burial, 
cremation, and grief counseling costs that add up to be very 
significant expenses.
  Minnesota is among the States that have already enacted these credits 
at the State level. And while a tax credit can't make up for the loss 
of a child, it does acknowledge that child's existence, even though he 
or she passed away before birth, and it will hopefully help support 
grieving families that have gone through the unthinkable.

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