[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H3811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         A TAX PLAN WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY BENEFIT ONLY THE RICH

  (Ms. PELOSI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, the gift horse of the gentleman from Texas 
[Mr. Archer], his tax cut plan, looks good now, but in the long-term 
only the rich will benefit. Those are not my words, but the words of 
the Philadelphia Inquirer, which pointed out the bogus nature of the 
Republican tax plan. As this chart clearly points out, 57.9 percent of 
the benefits of the Republican plan will go to the top 5 percent, those 
making over $247,000 a year.

                              {time}  1430

  Average Americans would be the biggest winners, the gentleman from 
Texas [Mr. Archer] says. I do not think so. Again, sounds nice, but it 
is bogus.
  What the Republicans unveiled this week ought to be called Tax Relief 
for the Monied Class Act. Its focus on people trying to make ends meet 
lasts only for a few years. Over the long term, most of the tax savings 
flow to taxpayers whose incomes are much higher than the national 
average. If the Republican Party wants to stand or fall on that ground, 
waxing eloquent about a tax code that rewards risk taking, so be it. 
The elections in 1998 and 2000 could be a referendum on tax efficiency 
and fairness.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge our colleagues to look carefully at who benefits 
from this tax proposal. Let us have tax fairness. Support the 
Democratic alternative.

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