[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3810]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    A HISTORIC TAX CUT FOR AMERICANS

  (Mr. COOK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COOK. Mr. Speaker, I join the ranks of Republicans who are proud 
to tell our constituents that this Congress is giving them the first 
tax cuts they have had in over 16 years. I agree with those who call 
this budget historic, but it is historic for a lot more than just the 
$85 billion that we will be returning to the pockets of working 
families over the next 5 years. History is going to show that 1997 
marked the year when American leaders began to redefine what is and is 
not income.
  Through these tax cuts we have taken the first step in announcing to 
the American people that income is not the money they carefully saved 
through their lives and left for their children and their 
grandchildren. Income is not the assets of their family businesses they 
built with pride and nurtured over the years and just happened to be 
there when they died. Income is not the increased valuations of their 
homes.
  I believe these tax cuts are the first step toward a simplified tax 
system that fairly and honestly taxes income, and a move away from a 
system that punishes savings and investing in our children, in our 
future, as our current system does.

                          ____________________