[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 65 (Friday, April 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              CONTRACT WITH AMERICA TAX RELIEF ACT OF 1995

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                               speech of

                        HON. THOMAS M. FOGLIETTA

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 5, 1995

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1215) to 
     amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to strengthen the 
     American family and create jobs:

  Mr. FOGLIETTA. Mr. Chairman, I hope kids aren't watching because 
today, we are ripping apart a great bedtime story--Robin Hood. In the 
rewrite, Robin has been bought off by rich, fat cat lobbyists. He isn't 
wearing his tights anymore. Instead, he's wearing an Armani suit and 
Gucci loafers. This time, Robin's taking the little the poor have left 
and giving it to the rich.
  The facts make this story a horror story. Fifty-four percent of the 
tax cuts in this Contract On America would go to families with incomes 
of $100,000 or more. Thirty-two percent of the tax cuts go to families 
earning over $200,000. What's left in the Republican pot for poor and 
middle-class Americans? A mere 14 percent.
  A mere 14 percent of the tax cuts of this Republican plan will 
benefit the average family struggling to send kids to college, 
struggling to make a downpayment on a home, struggling to make ends 
meet.
  As an alternative, Dick Gephardt's tax bill provides families with a 
way to meet one of their many challenges--providing their children with 
opportunities for higher education. Importantly, this Democratic 
alternative targets those American families who need this help the 
most--families earning $100,000 or less per year.
  There were some well-meaning Members on the other side of the aisle 
who were trying to do the right thing.
  They sought to rid the bill of some of its inherent inequity by 
delivering the tax cuts only to working families making $95,000 or less 
per year. But when they arrived at the Sherwood Forest on the second 
floor of this building, they were rolled.
  It would be nice if this was just a fairy tale, but it's not. The 
unfairness and the inequity of this bill are going to fall hardest on 
people like my constituents. My colleagues, this bill is called the Tax 
Fairness and Deficit Reduction Act. I cannot think of a worse name for 
it. It is anything but fair and it makes the deficit grow even larger 
than the tax cuts of the 1980's. My colleagues, oppose this bill.


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