[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 4, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H4151-H4152]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REPUBLICAN TAX CUTS--POLITICIAN'S DREAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Durbin] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. Speaker, during the course of the next 24 to 48 hours 
there will be an extensive debate on the floor of this House of 
Representatives about a tax cut bill. Talk about a politician's dream, 
to stand up in front of the American people and say, ``Guess what? I've 
got a tax cut for you.''
  Mr. Speaker, people applauded. They say, ``You're the greatest 
elected official in the world. How can you be so generous and so 
kind?''
  Well, there will be some of us who will be questioning this tax cut, 
and you say, ``Wait a minute. Why would any politician in his right 
mind question the idea of a tax cut? Don't you want to promise people 
you're going to cut their taxes?''
  Well, of course we do, and there are a lot of deserving people in 
America who should have their taxes cut, but unfortunately the Gingrich 
Republican tax cut bill is not a fair bill for this country.
  First let me tell you this:
  This year we have a $190 billion deficit, $190 billion more that we 
will spend than we take in. This tax cut proposed by the Gingrich 
Republicans is going to add about another $190 billion more to the 
national debt over the next 5 years, and, over 10 years, $630 billion 
more to the national debt. Why are we doing this at a time when we are 
cutting school lunches and other programs because of deficits? Why 
would the Gingrich Republicans want to give tax cuts away and add to 
the deficit, require us to cut even deeper into spending for education 
and for school lunches? Well, let me tell you why.
  Take a look at what this tax bill does. It tells the whole story. Who 
is going to get the benefit of this tax cut? Working Americans? Folks 
who get up every day, pack the lunch box, punch the clock, drop the 
kids at day care, do the things you have to do? They will get a little 
bit, but look who the real winners are. Take a look at this chart. Who 
benefits from the Republican tax bill?
  Under a $30,000 income, if you happen to have a family, making under 
$30,000, your average cut for your family is $124, $2 and, what, 80 
cents a week or so? And then take a look. From 30,000 to 75,000, $760; 
75,000 to 100,000 thousand, $1,572. Hang on to your hats, folks, when 
you get over $100,000. From 100,000 to 200,000 the Gingrich Republicans 
want to give you $2,465 in tax breaks, and the superrich, the 
privileged few over $200,000, $11,000 tax break, an $11,000 tax break 
to folks making over $200,000 a year?
  Pardon me; what did I miss here? We are in a deficit? We are cutting 
school lunches? We are cutting back on student loans? We are reducing 
money for schools and education for our future so that folks making 
over 200 grand a year can have an $11,000 tax break? That does not make 
any sense.
  Let me yield to my colleague from Texas.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE. I thank the distinguished gentleman from Illinois 
[Mr. Durbin], and I think what you have just highlighted is a lot of 
smoke and mirrors. I am confused, and I am asking the same question. 
You know, we get labeled a lot, liberals and conservatives, 
conservatives and liberals. The idea is to come here and represent the 
American people.
  I say to the gentleman, You made a good point. People are excited 
about a child tax credit. Do you realize that 40 percent of the 
children getting this
 tax credit are the children of the wealthy, and yet those low income 
family children will benefit only 3.5 percent?

  Then they talk about the marriage penalty. I have had good working 
people sit in my office, labor folk who work every day. They simply 
say, ``Give us a living wage, give us a job. We'll work with this 
country. We just want to send our kids to school. We just want to make 
sure they've got a good meal.'' And yet, when we think about the 
marriage penalty, let me tell you what it actually does.
  The provision would only help 14 million of the 30 million couples 
who experienced a marriage penalty. In addition, the average benefit is 
only $145 per couple, and the penalty is far more than it is in terms 
of what we are getting as a benefit, and yet the smokes and screens 
tell us that we are getting a great benefit for the American people.
  I am wondering, What's the rush? What's the rush? This does not 
account for the 1995 taxes. We need to deliberate and begin to talk 
about bringing down the deficit because we are going to lose $650 
billion in revenue with this kind of tax cut.
  Mr. DURBIN. Let me tell the gentlewoman she has hit the nail on the 
head. The reason why there is a rush is the folks making over a hundred 
grand a year are going to need $2,465 in tax breaks under the Gingrich 
Republican bill, and the folks over 200 grand, 11,000. Well, I want to 
suggest to you, Let's make a deal, and here is the deal, a bipartisan 
approach, Democrats and Republicans together, and here is what I would 
like to suggest:
  One hundred and six Republicans wrote to Speaker Gingrich and said, 
``This is embarrassing. It is embarrassing to be giving this kind of 
tax break to people at a time when we have a deficit and we're cutting 
school lunches, student loans.'' And 106 Republicans said to the 
Speaker, ``Why don't you cut it off at $95,000? If the families making 
$95,000 or less, let's give them the tax break for their kids. Don't 
give it to the superrich, the privileged few.''
  Well, those 106 Republicans stood up to Speaker Gingrich. They made a 
proposal we can do business with. Let us 
[[Page H4152]] get Democrats and Republicans together in a bipartisan 
way helping real working families.

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