[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 97 (Thursday, July 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1393-E1394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. MAX SANDLIN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 1997

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2014) to 
     provide for reconciliation pursuant to subsections (b)(2) and 
     (d) of section 105 of the concurrent resolution on the budget 
     for fiscal year 1998:

  Mr. SANDLIN. Mr. Chairman, east Texans are overburdened by taxes. 
They work hard and take home too little of their paycheck. I understand 
that the deficits of the 1980's have limited the amount of tax relief 
we can offer to the people, but I feel strongly that we must offer what 
we can. Families need help covering the expenses of raising their 
children. They need help paying for the expenses of higher education. 
They need to be able to keep more of the money they earn from their 
long term investments. And they need to be able to pass family farm or 
a family business to their children without having to sell it to pay 
taxes when they pass away.
  East Texans need tax relief, and that is why I voted for H.R. 2014, 
the Taxpayer Relief Act.

[[Page E1394]]

No legislation is without flaws, and I hope to see a slightly different 
bill when it comes back from conference committee. Tax relief should be 
directed toward working middle class families--the backbone of our 
Nation--and I am concerned that the current bill gives too great a tax 
break to those with higher incomes at the expense of hard working 
families. However, this bill is an important step in reducing the tax 
burden of the people in east Texas.
  The budget agreement crafted by Congress in 1993 put us on a path for 
tax relief. Our deficits have fallen significantly over the past 4 
years, and it is now time to reward the people for shouldering their 
share of the load. Today, we passed legislation to give families $500 
for each child they are raising, to offer tax breaks on tuition for 
students in higher education, to reduce the capital gains tax, and to 
increase the exemption for the estate tax.
  As I said, this bill is far from perfect. For example, the 
legislation does not adequately protect worker's rights and fails to 
immediately raise the estate tax exemption. The exemption, now 
$600,000, would increase to $1 million with this bill, but not until 
2007. Many families in east Texas who own farms or small businesses 
could end up losing significant portions of their family property 
waiting for this provision to be implemented. The exemption should be 
$1 million now, not 10 years from now.
  I voted for this bill in spite of its imperfections which must be 
corrected in conference committee. I voted for this bill because I want 
tax relief for working families in east Texas. Over the next several 
weeks, I will be working with my colleagues to improve the bill so that 
we offer tax relief in a fair and equal manner; today, however, I am 
proud to say that I voted to save the taxpayers $85 billion in taxes 
over the next 5 years.

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