[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 15, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            UNANIMOUS-CONSENT REQUEST--SENATE RESOLUTION 73

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I would like to now propound a unanimous-
consent request that the Senate proceed immediately to the 
consideration of a Senate resolution submitted by myself regarding the 
sense of the Senate relating to tax relief for the American people. I 
further ask unanimous-consent that there be 10 minutes for debate on 
the resolution equally divided in the usual form, and following that 
debate the Senate proceed to a vote on the adoption of the resolution 
to be followed by a vote on the preamble, and the motion to reconsider 
be laid upon the table.
  I might take just a moment so that there can be a response to that 
unanimous-consent request. This is a sense of the Senate which just 
declares a need for tax relief for the American people, and condemns 
the abuses of power and authority committed by the Internal Revenue 
Service.
  We have discussed this with a number of Senators. We have provided it 
to the other side of the aisle.
  So I propound that unanimous-consent request.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. DORGAN addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to--before I propound the unanimous-consent request, let me 
explain my objection to the resolution offered by the Senate majority 
leader and then indicate that I would intend to offer a resolution of 
my own.
  Some of the provisions that are in the resolution offered by the 
Senator from Mississippi, the majority leader, are not troublesome, but 
there are some provisions and some language that are very troublesome 
to some of us in this resolution.
  It is clearly a partisan resolution written in a manner that suggests 
that one side is no good, the other side is all bad, and for that 
reason I object to it.
  In the spirit of discussing the taxes, tax burden on the American 
citizens and the ability to address meaningful tax reform for American 
families and to do so in a budget process that has a requirement that 
the Congress bring to the floor of the Senate and pass a budget today 
on April 15, I would offer a unanimous-consent request and will do so, 
and the resolution that I will offer is a resolution that talks some 
about the tax burden that we face in this country and our desire to 
offer meaningful tax relief to American families but to do so in the 
context of a budget that reaches balance, and that we do it in a 
process as described by law in this country, that a budget be brought 
to the Congress, be passed by April 15.
  It is unusual that we have not even started a budget process at this 
point. April 15 is two deadlines. One, people will line up at the post 
office this evening in a traffic jam trying to file their income tax 
return and get an April 15 postmark because people at the post office 
want to meet their obligation.
  There is a second obligation today, and that is the obligation of the 
Congress to pass a budget resolution, by law, on April 15. Obviously, 
we are far from that position of being able to pass a budget 
resolution. No budget resolution has come from the Budget Committee. 
There is not an indication that such a budget resolution will be 
forthcoming.
  In the resolution that I will ask unanimous consent to offer we ask 
that the majority party take up without delay a budget resolution that 
balances the budget by the year 2002 and targets its tax relief to 
working and middle-class families to the same degree as the proposal 
offered by the President and, at the same time, protects important 
domestic priorities such as Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the 
environment.
  I might say there is a difference with respect to our interest in tax 
relief. There are those who propose tax relief but do it in a way that 
says what they would like to do is especially exempt income from 
investment, which means there is more of a burden on income from work. 
It is an approach that says let us tax work but let us exempt 
investment. Guess who has all the investment income in the country. The 
upper-income folks.
  And so you have a proposal that essentially says let us exempt the 
folks at the upper-income scale, and then we will shift the burden, and 
what we will end up doing is taxing work.
  Some of us think that is the wrong way to offer tax relief, that 
overburdened working families deserve some tax relief in this country, 
and we believe a responsible budget that allows for some tax relief to 
working families but still protects important priorities, and, 
importantly, balances the budget in 2002, is a responsibility of this 
Congress. And it so happens that today is the day by which that is 
supposed to be done.

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