[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 206 (Thursday, December 21, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H15547-H15548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CORPORATE INTEREST IN THE REPUBLICAN BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. Kaptur] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call attention to the 
sanctimonious advertisements in favor of the Gingrich budget that have 
been taken out in major newspapers across our country signed by some of 
the richest, most powerful chief executive officers in this Nation 
representing large multinational corporations like Boeing, IBM, Eastman 
Kodak, Zenith, Sarah Lee, and General Motors.
  Did you ever stop to wonder why these corporations are spending a 
small fortune lobbying for the Gingrich budget? In fact it costs 
$60,000--double the salary of an average worker in my district--just to 
buy one page, much less two, in major dailies like the Washington Post, 
USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and many of the other ones in which 
they have been advertising. In fact, they spent over a half a million 
dollars just in four of these papers over the last couple days.
  Now do you believe what they say in the ads, that they really have a 
common concern for America's future? You know, I was trying to put this 
together as I was reading various articles, and I came upon the Time 
magazine special, the Christmas issue.

                              {time}  1800

  It talks a lot about Speaker Gingrich in this issue. I turned to page 
65 of the Christmas issue of Time. I read down here where it says, 
``The Speaker invited a small group of chief executive officers'' from 
these very same companies to meetings here in the Capitol on the first 
floor, and it names names: Jack Welch of General Electric, Jack Smith 
of General Motors, Business Round Table, Chairman John Snow of CSX, who 
by the way has a very large signature in this ad, and they talked about 
how they could work together on this problem. I thought to myself, 
``Why would the Speaker invite them, but he does not invite people from 
my district?'' In fact, the senior citizens of this country did not 
even get 1 day of hearings on the Medicare changes that are proposed.
  Mr. Speaker, how did they get that much access? Bingo: money. For 
example, CSX Corp.--one of the organizers, chief organizers of this 
advertising effort, and part of the group calling itself the Business 
Round Table--contributed nearly $100,000--to the Republican Party in 
the first 6 months of this year alone. Another signatory, Prudential, 
contributed over $90,000; AT&T over $150,000; Chevron contributed over 
$125,000. Listen to these numbers. This is not a new few pennies, this 
is not a hundred dollars, these are not a thousand dollars, these are 
hundreds of thousands of dollars by these very same interests.
  You might ask yourself, what did these corporations get in this 
access with the Speaker for all of their money? How about this: The 
Gingrich budget includes a $64 billion set of tax breaks for wealthy 
individuals like these very same CEO's, many of whom make up to $12 
million a year. They include a $36 billion capital gains tax cut which 
they will all benefit from, a $16 billion cut in the corporate 
alternative minimum tax, $12 billion in other tax cuts, such as estate 
tax exemptions, which of course they personally are all interested in.
  It used to be in 1945, not so many years ago, that corporations paid 
about a third of the taxes that flowed into the Government of the 
United States. Today they pay about 10 percent. So we hear them crying 
these crocodile tears when their profits and Wall Street, the profits 
are going through the roof, and Wall Street has never been happier. At 
the same time as we see this, we see the Gingrich budget allowing these 
very same companies to withdraw over $20 billion of our workers' money 
from their pension funds to use it any way they well please.
  Mr. Speaker, we see pharmaceutical companies like Abbott 
Laboratories, American Home Products, by the way, they are listed in 
this very same ad, Baxter International, Johnson & Johnson enjoy 
multimillion dollar tax breaks through the 936 program, a subsidy that 
is included in the Gingrich budget; energy corporations like Amoco, 
Exxon, Chevron, benefit from provisions in the Gingrich budget that 
allow them to extract oil and gas from the Gulf of Mexico without 
paying any royalty to the public coffers for that privilege, making 
their profits at the expense of the United States of America and its 
people; companies like AT&T, Exxon, Ford Motor, and GTE have enjoyed 
millions of dollars of foreign sales assistance through the Overseas 
Private Investment Corporation [OPIC], and those benefits are retained 
in the Gingrich budget.
  What is interesting is these very same companies that want all these 
benefits and are paying all this money for access here in Washington 
have not created a single job in this country for the last decade and a 
half. For the Record, Mr. Speaker, I submit some of these names, like 
IBM, that has laid off over 23,000 workers in this country just over 
the last few years.
  I would like to say to Mr. Fisher, their CEO, what a merry Christmas 
you have given to the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the following:

  Without a Balanced Budget, the Party's Over--No Matter Which Party 
                               You're in

       A bipartisan appeal from business leaders to the President 
     of the United States Bill Clinton, House Speaker Newt 
     Gingrich, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, Senate Minority 
     Leader Tom Daschle, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, House 
     Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, and all Members of Congress:
       There are moments in history when a single choice can mean 
     the difference between vastly differing futures--one bright, 
     the other dark. We believe that you, the political leaders of 
     this country, are now confronting such a choice in your 
     deliberations over a plan to balance the federal budget.
       We are convinced that the health of our economy rests on 
     your ability to avoid political gridlock and give the 
     American people what leaders of both parties say they favor 
     and, indeed, have agreed to--a credible plan to balance the 
     budget. By ``credible'' we mean that such a plan should:
       Use realistic projections that assume the fiscal and 
     economic scenario developed by the Congressional Budget 
     Office and reviewed by objective third parties;
       Take no longer than seven years as the maximum time period 
     by which a balanced budget would be achieved;
       Ensure that the process of deficit reduction is achieved in 
     roughly equal steps throughout these seven years, rather than 
     ``backloading'' the politically difficult decisions into the 
     next century; and
       Have everything on the table, including long-term 
     entitlement programs as well as the size and shape of any tax 
     cuts.
       Included among us are Democrats and Republicans, Liberals 
     and Conservatives. What unites us in this appeal is our 
     common concern for America's future.
       All of us are leaders of institutions keenly sensitive to 
     interest rates and the short- and long-term outlook for the 
     U.S. economy. We believe that the recent decline in long-term 
     interest rates and much of the boom in the stock market is 
     directly predicated on the financial markets' expectation 
     that a successful bipartisan budget-balancing compromise will 
     be reached quickly, and that a credible long-term plan will 
     be put in place in short order.
       Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan recently 
     observed: ``If there is a shattering of expectations that 
     leads to the conclusion that there is indeed an inability to 
     ultimately redress the corrosive forces of deficit, I think 
     the reaction would be quite negative--that is, a sharp 
     increase in long-term interest rates . . . I think we would 
     find that with mortgage rates higher and other related rates 
     moving up, interest-sensitive areas of the economy would 
     begin to run into trouble.''
       As you continue your negotiations, we ask you to reflect on 
     the full consequences of success or failure. However 
     Americans ultimately resolve our honest and principled 
     disagreements over the size and scope of government, America 
     must begin to live within it means.
       The time for good economics as well as good politics is 
     NOW.
       America is waiting.
           Respectfully yours,
         Paul Allaire, Chairman and CEO, Xerox Corp.; Richard H. 
           Jenrette, Chairman and CEO, The Equitable Companies, 
           Inc.; Jon Corzine, Chairman and Senior Partner, 
           Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Peter G. Peterson, Chairman, the 
           Blackstone Group, President, The Concord Coalition; 
           M.R. Greenberg, Chairman and CEO, American 
           International Group, Inc.; John Snow, Chairman and CEO, 
           CSX Corp., Chairman, The Business Roundtable.
           
[[Page H15548]]



                         committee in formation

         Duane L. Burnham, Chairman of the Board and Chief 
           Executive Officer, Abbott Laboratories; Paul H. 
           O'Neill, Chairman & CEO, Alcoa; H.L. Fuller, Chairman & 
           CEO, Amoco Corp.; Mitt Romney, Managing Director, Bain 
           Capital, Inc.; Nolan D. Archibald, Chairman, President 
           & CEO, The Black & Decker Corp.; William F. Thompson, 
           Director, Boston Ventures Management, Inc.; Robert J. 
           Eaton, Chairman & CEO, Chrysler Corp.; Richard L. 
           Scott, President/CEO, Columbia/HCA Health Care; John S. 
           Chalsty, President and CEO, Donaldson, Lufkin & 
           Jenrette, Inc.; Lee R. Raymond, Chairman and CEO, Exxon 
           Corp.; Jack B. Critchfield, Chairman and CEO, Florida 
           Progress Corp.; John F. Smith, Jr., Chief Executive 
           Officer & President, General Motors Corp.; Thomas L. 
           Gossage, Chairman and Chief Officer, Hercules Inc.; 
           Frank E. Baxter, CEO, Jeffries & Co., Inc.; Henry R. 
           Kravis, Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & 
           Co.; Roger Milliken, Chairman, Milliken & Co.; Willis 
           B. Wood, Jr., Chairman and CEO, Pacific Enterprises; 
           Arthur R. Ryan, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, The 
           Prudential Insurance, Company of America; Wolfgang R. 
           Schmitt, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive 
           Officer, Rubbermaid, Inc.; A.C. DeCrane, Jr., Chairman 
           of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Texaco Inc.; 
           Dr. William H. Joyce, President and Chief Executive 
           Officer, Union Carbide Corp.; Keith E. Bailey, 
           Chairman, President and CEO, The Williams Companies, 
           Inc.
         Josh S. Weston, CEO, Automatic Data Processing, Inc.; 
           Lawrence A. Bossidy, Chairman & CEO, Allied Signal 
           Inc.; Richard de J. Osborne, Chairman of the Board, 
           ASARCO Inc.; John B. McCoy, Chairman, Bane One Corp.; 
           Stephen A. Schwarzman, President & CEO, The Blackstone 
           Group; Charles A. Heimbold, Jr., Chairman & CEO, 
           Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co.; Richard L. Sharp, Chairman 
           and CEO, Circuit City Stores, Inc.; Robert Cizik, 
           Chairman, Cooper Industries, Inc.; John R. Walter, 
           Chairman and CEO, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.; Frederick 
           W. Smith, Chairman and CEO, FedEx; Alex Trotman, 
           Chairman of the Board, Ford Motor Co.; Stanley C. 
           Gault, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The 
           Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.; Frank A. Olson, Chairman, 
           The Hertz Corp.; Ralph S. Larsen, Chairman and CEO, 
           Johnson & Johnson; A.J.C. Smith, Chairman & CEO, Marsh 
           & McLennan Companies, Inc.; Hugh L. McColl, Jr., 
           Chairman and CEO, NationsBank; Donald B. Marron, 
           Chairman and CEO, Paine-Webber, Inc.; Hardwick Simmons, 
           President & CEO, Prudential Securities Inc.; Robert E. 
           Denham, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Salomon 
           Inc.; Charles Lazarus, Chairman, Roys `R' Us; James A. 
           Unruh, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Unisys 
           Corp.; William R. Toller, Chairman and CEO, Witco Corp.
         John Whitehead, Chairman, AEA Investors Inc., Former 
           Deputy Secretary of State; E. Linn Draper, Jr., 
           Chairman, President & CEO, American Electric Power; 
           Robert E. Donovan, President & CEO, ABB Inc.; Veron R. 
           Loucks, Jr., Chairman and CEO, Baxter International 
           Inc., Michael R. Bloomberg, President and Founder, 
           Bloomberg Financial Markerts; Lawrence Perlman, 
           Chairman and CEO, Ceridian Corp.; Joseph L. Rice III, 
           Chairman and CEO, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc., James 
           R. Houghton, Chairman and CEO, Corning. Inc.; George 
           M.C. Fisher, Chairman, President & CEO, Eastman Kodak 
           Co., Richard L. Thomas, Chairman, First Chicago NBD 
           Corp.; Melvyn J. Estrin, Co-Chairman and Co-Chief 
           Executive Officer, FoxMeyer Health Corp.; Charles R. 
           Lee, Chairman & CEO, GTE Corp.; David A. Jones, 
           Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Humana Inc.; Paul 
           S. Levy, General Partner, Joseph Littlejohn & Levy; 
           Joseph L. Dionne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, 
           The McGraw-Hill Companies; J. Roderick Heller III, 
           Chairman and CEO, NHP Inc.; Tony L. White, Chairman, 
           President & CEO, The Perkin-Elmer Corp.; James P. 
           Schadt, Chairman & Ceo, The Reader's Digest, 
           Association, Inc.; John H. Bryan, Chairman and Chief 
           Executive Officer, Sara Lee Corp.; Joseph T. Gorman, 
           Chief Executive Officer, TRW Inc.; David R. Whitwam, 
           Chairman of the Board & CEO, Whirlpool Corp.; Al 
           Moschner, President & CEO, Zenith Electronics Corp.
         H.A. Wagner, Chairman President & CEO, Air Products & 
           Chemicals, Inc.; John R. Stafford, Chairman, President 
           and Chief Executive Officer, American Home Products 
           Corp.; Robert E. Allen, Chairman and CEO, AT&T Corp.; 
           Curtis H. Barnett, Chairman and CEO, Bethlehem Steel 
           Corp.; Frank Shrontz, Chairman and CEO, The Boeing Co.; 
           K.T. Derr, Chairman and CEO, Chevron Corp.; M. Thomas 
           Moore, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cleveland-
           Cliffs Inc.; Philip J. Purcell, Chairman and Chief 
           Executive Officer, Dean Witter, Discover and Co.; 
           William E. Butler, Chairman, Eaton Corp.; Paul M. 
           Montrone, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fisher 
           Scientific International Inc.; John B. Yasinsky, 
           Chairman and CEO GenCorp; Warren Hellman, General 
           Partner, Hellman & Friedman; Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., 
           Chairman and CEO, IBM Corp.; Floyd Hall, Chairman, 
           President & CEO, Kmart; Daniel P. Tully, Chairman and 
           Chief Executive Officer, Merrill Lynch & Co.; Inc.; 
           Stephen Berger, General Partner, Odyssey Partners, 
           L.P.; H. William Lichtenberger, Chairman and Chief 
           Executive Officer, Praxair, Inc.; Donald R. Beall, 
           Chairman & CEO, Rockwell International Corp.; Dana G. 
           Mead, Chairman of CEO, Tenneco, Chairman, National Assn 
           of Manufacturers; L. Dennis Kozlowski, Chairman & CEO, 
           Tyco International Ltd.

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