[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 166 (Wednesday, October 25, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H10828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             NO TAX CUTS WHILE TRYING TO BALANCE THE BUDGET

  (Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute to revise and extend his remarks and include 
extraneous matter.)
  Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, an editorial ran in yesterday's 
Houston Chronicle that affirmed what a lot of us have been saying for 
months. It is ridiculous to cut taxes at a time when the Federal 
Government is desperately trying to balance its budget. In fact, 
Congress' own analysts pointed out that the tax cut would needlessly 
add almost $100 billion to the swollen national debt and increase taxes 
for working people who make under $30,000. No one likes to pay taxes. 
It would be great to give every taxpayer a tax cut. We should balance 
our budget first.
  Speaking of the budget, the new majority has been backslapping and 
congratulating themselves for weeks about passing a balanced budget, 
but wait a minute, there is a problem. I see on page 3 of the budget 
conference report, it says in the budget document in the year 2002 that 
we will have a $108 billion deficit. Only in Washington could a deficit 
of $108 billion be considered balanced in the year 2002, when we are 
supposed to have a balanced budget.
  In their heart they know the budget is not balanced. All this pomp 
and celebration is one big joke on the seniors of this country. Do they 
know why? Yes, because that $108 billion will come out of the Social 
Security trust fund to balance that budget.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record an article from the Houston 
Chronicle of Tuesday, October 24, 1995.

              [From the Houston Chronicle, Oct. 24, 1995]

    Breath and Taxes--Balanced Budget Should Come Before any Tax Cut

       Democrats are arguing that Republicans in Congress are 
     trying to cut the taxes of the rich and the benefits of the 
     poor. Republicans counter that the Democrats are waging a 
     campaign of fear and class warfare.
       There is some truth to both these charges, but most 
     Americans are neither rich nor poor. They should view the 
     political battle as logic vs. irrationality. So far, logic is 
     losing.
       Take for instance, the recent vote of the Senate Finance 
     Committee to cut taxes by some $245 billion. No American 
     enjoys paying high taxes, but a large majority of Americans 
     believe that the nation's No. 1 priority is lowering the 
     federal deficit, a goal that the tax cut would make more 
     difficult.
       Republicans say they can cut taxes and still balance the 
     budget in seven years. But Congress' own analysts point out 
     that the tax cut would needlessly add almost $100 billion to 
     the swollen national debt--debt that no balanced budget will 
     ever diminish.
       Balancing the budget requires hard choices, such as the 
     necessity to curb spending on Medicare. But why make the 
     choices any harder than they have to be?
       While the GOP tax cut would give parents a tax credit of up 
     to $500 per child, the Medicare plan would increase fees--
     taxes--on the elderly. What's the point of giving with one 
     hand only to take away with the other?
       The Republicans in Congress deserve the credit for their 
     efforts to balance the budget. The Democrats who held sway 
     for decades had the power to balance the budget--even when 
     Republicans occupied the White House--but never did.
       But with the tax cut, the Republicans erode the chances 
     that the budget will actually be balanced in seven years and 
     signal a fragile economy that their spirit may be willing, 
     but their commitment is weak.
       President Clinton has done little to clarify the debate. 
     While vowing to veto the GOP tax cuts, he worried in Houston 
     recently that he might have raised taxes too much in 1993 in 
     his successful attempt to temporarily bring down the 
     deficits. If taxes are too high, then why his opposition to 
     reducing them? Now the president says he just misspoke, but 
     such wavering at the top will not produce public 
     understanding.
       One can debate whether the GOP tax cuts amount to a 
     ``giveaway for the rich'' (much of the money will flow out in 
     dribs and drabs to the middle class). However, one feature of 
     the Republican agenda would drastically affect the large 
     number of Americans who make up the working poor.
       There is a national consensus that the federal welfare 
     system needs reform. Congress' proposed welfare reform would 
     limit and eventually end welfare for hundreds of thousands of 
     families, but the Republicans' inconsistent budget plan would 
     reduce the Earned Income Tax Credit program that helps keep 
     poor Americans on the job and off the welfare rolls.
       How can members of Congress insist on passing a tax credit 
     for middle-class parents if they have to make things tougher 
     on the poorest families in order to pay for it and still 
     balance the budget?
       Conservatives argue that the Earned Income Tax Credit is 
     rife with fraud and abuse, but the proper response is to step 
     up enforcement against the abusers.

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