[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H2337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HOPE FOR EARLIER TAX FREEDOM DAYS IN FUTURE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Utah [Mr. Cook] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight 
about Tax Freedom Day. Tax Freedom Day this year is a day of both 
dismay and hope. A day of dismay because May 9, the day that Americans 
finally stop working for the Government and start working for their 
families, comes later this year than it has any other previous Tax 
Freedom Day. A day of hope, however, because this Tax Freedom Day comes 
a week after an historic budget accord between Congress and the White 
House which for the first time in years offers hope of tax relief for 
the American people.

                              {time}  2215

  I hope to be able to stand here with Members next year in honor of a 
Tax Freedom Day that comes way before May 9 because of the budget 
accord and the tax relief it promises.
  As a freshman who until a few months ago eyed Washington, DC and 
Congress through the eyes of a private citizen, I am thrilled with this 
budget accord. I have read many of the news reports and the opinion 
pieces, as I am sure you have, that attacked this accord or advised 
caution.
  But to me, this accord and other actions we are taking this year make 
the 105th Congress, along with the 104th Congress, stand out as 
Congresses that listen to the American people in a way that Congress 
has not done for decades.
  Let me give a few examples. Recent polls show that 61 percent of 
Americans believe the IRS has too much power. We have before us this 
year the IRS Accountability Act that would make IRS agents criminally 
liable for abuses of power. Fifty-eight percent of Americans believe 
their Federal income taxes are simply too high.
  The budget accord we vote on next week provides a remarkable net tax 
relief of $85 billion over 5 years, and $250 billion over 10 years. 
Sixty-nine percent of Americans polled believe we need to fundamentally 
overhaul and simplify the Federal Tax Code. Further, a startling 70 
percent of Americans believe loopholes in our current tax laws allow 
people that earn the same amount of money they do to pay widely lower 
taxes. This Congress has heard those Americans. This Congress has 
brought this country closer to tax reform than we have been in decades, 
to the brink, I hope, of real tax simplification.
  Tax Freedom Day is often a day of dismay as we realize with each 
passing year our freedom from slavery to a bloated Federal Government 
comes later and later. But tax freedom this year is a day of hope. I 
look forward to working with Members in the coming year to make that 
hope a reality for this country.

                          ____________________