[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 5, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      H.R. 1327 ACTUALLY RAISES TAXES ON OVER 2 MILLION AMERICANS

  (Mrs. MORELLA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, I have concerns about H.R. 1327 because I 
believe that genuine deficit reduction rather than tax cuts should be 
our No. 1 priority. But I really want to point out to this body that 
while purporting to decrease taxes, this bill actually raises taxes on 
over 2 million Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, title IV of this bill would raise Federal employee 
retirement contributions by 2.5 percent. It also would change the 
retirement formula to reflect the highest 5 years of salary instead of 
the current highest 3 years of salary. This change in retirement 
formula would affect postal employees as well as civil service workers.
  Why are we once again taxing a work force that has already 
contributed to deficit reduction for more than a decade? The tax bill 
that is before us contains $91 billion more than is needed to fund the 
tax cuts. The $12 billion from tax increases on Federal employees is 
not needed.
  Both the Congressional Research Service [CRS] and the General 
Accounting Office [GAO] agree that the ``Federal retirement system's 
unfunded liability is not a problem that needs to be fixed.'' Both CRS 
and GAO conclude that ``there will always be sufficient assets in the 
retirement fund to cover benefit payments to all current and future 
retirees.''
  The provisions in title IV of H.R. 1237 were never approved by the 
Government Reform and Oversight Committee. I really do not understand 
why we are bypassing the normal and fair procedures of the House by 
including these provisions in the tax reduction bill.
  I want to point out that an average Government employee who earns 
$30,000 per year will have to pay an additional $750 per year. This is 
a significant, hefty sum to pay. It is unfair. We should keep our 
contract with our Federal work force, those people who make America 
run.

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