[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H5485-H5486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HOUSE REPUBLICANS FAVOR TAX CUTS FOR WEALTHY

  (Mr. GEPHARDT asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEPHARDT. Mr. Speaker, now that the Republicans have forced their 
budget resolution through this House, it is easy to get lost in a sea 
of numbers and statistics--to forget about the impact this trickle-down 
travesty will have on the hard-working people of America.
  But I cannot forget--because every time I walk the streets of my 
district in St. Louis, I meet the people who stand to lose health care 
benefits, pension benefits, and student loans--all to pay for a tax cut 
for the wealthy that is so unfair, so unnecessary, so 
[[Page H5486]] unaffordable that even a Republican Senate rejected it.
  This is a picture of Shawn D'Abreu, a student at Webster University 
in St. Louis. He depends on student loans, as well as college grants 
and a part-time job, to pay his way through college. To lose any part 
of his financial aid package could put Shawn's college career in 
jeopardy, forcing him to delay his degree, or find some source of 
outside income to make up the difference.
  Under the new Republican budget plan, Shawn would have his student 
loan cut by about $5,000. That is a cut he simply cannot afford to 
sustain.
  If you ask me, a budget that sacrifices Shawn's college education to 
line the pockets of the wealthy is a dangerous reversal of priorities. 
The Republicans want to let billionaires renounce their citizenship and 
pay no taxes. But Shawn, who is the very future of this country, gets 
stuck with the bill.
  That is what the Republicans voted for--tax cuts for the wealthy, and 
student loan cuts for struggling young people like Shawn. If you ask 
me, the Senate had it right: That kind of reckless redistribution of 
income is just plain wrong, and has no place in the United States of 
America.

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