Congressman Mike Michaud issued the following statement after House leaders refused to hold a vote on a bipartisan Senate-passed payroll tax cut extension package, which extends for two months the payroll tax cut for workers, authority for unemployment benefits, and a prevention of the cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors.

There is a bipartisan Senate agreement that passed overwhelmingly, but House leaders refused to even hold an up or down vote on it.

It's infuriating how out of touch Congress is right now. The American people know exactly what will happen in January if this issue isn't resolved - taxes will go up for workers and unemployed Americans will lose benefits that are critical to them making ends meet.

Congress needs to avoid this at all costs. But that will only happen if leaders in both chambers put the best interests of the country first. They could start by thinking about the consequences of their political maneuvering on the lives of the people they were elected to represent.