[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 61 (Monday, April 3, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H4084-H4085]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            TAX RELIEF BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland [Mr. Bartlett] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, this week we vote on the most 
important part of our Contract With America.
  In the last Congress, the largest tax bill in the history of this 
country was passed; and, in typical form, it was mislabeled and called 
a deficit reduction package. Six times, at least six times in our 
history, we have tried to reduce the deficit by increasing taxes. It 
did not work any of those six times, and it may not work now. Only a 
few of those tax increases have kicked in, and we are already beginning 
to see the deleterious effects of these high taxes.
  We will be voting this week on our tax relief bill. This tax relief 
bill will do two things: It will provide some relief from Clinton's tax 
increases. It will permit our hard-working people to keep more of their 
own money. And it will reduce the deficit.
  When you leave money in the private sector, it creates more and 
better jobs than when it is taken into the public sector. And in spite 
of a tax decrease rate the increased tax base inevitably will yield 
greater tax revenues. So this is truly an important part of our deficit 
reduction plan.
  Tonight, I would like to spend just a moment looking at what we are 
going to do for senior citizens.
  In the Clinton largest-tax-increase-in-history bill, our senior 
citizens have been limited to earning just $11,200, after which time 
their Social Security benefits are cut. If a senior citizen has a job 
earning $5 an hour, for that $5, he gets to keep only $2.20.
  This is a higher tax rate than is levied on our multibillionaires. 
Ross 
[[Page H4085]] Perot pays less taxes, a smaller percent of taxes, than 
do our senior citizens who choose to work beyond this very low $11,200 
cap.
  Our bill will raise that tax over a few years from $11,200 to 
$30,000. This whole bill is fair and responsible, and our senior 
citizens know.


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