[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 5, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H4188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                    HURTING MIDDLE-INCOME AMERICANS

  (Mr. POMEROY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POMEROY. Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Rules has quite possibly 
wiped out the last chance to get a meaningful deduction for those 
millions of Americans struggling every month to pay their own health 
insurance. I offered an amendment which would have allowed 80 percent 
of the premium to be deducted and would have paid for it by limiting 
the child tax credit in the Republican bill to families earning up to 
$80,000. If we would have foregone this tax credit for families earning 
6-figure incomes, up to $250,000, we could have fully funded this vital 
deduction.
  For me, it is a matter of priorities. I think it is much more 
important for Congress to help families afford the coverage they need 
to get their children health insurance than to give this tax break to 
themselves and other families earning in the 6-figure range. It 
underscores what this Republican tax bill is all about: Helping the 
rich, and sticking it to middle-income working Americans.

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