[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 102 (Thursday, July 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H5448-H5449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     BALANCE THE BUDGET WITH TAX RELIEF, CONTINUED ECONOMIC GROWTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, with all the discussion about balancing 
the budget and providing tax relief, people are concerned. Well, why is 
it necessary and is it even consistent to give tax relief while we are 
trying to balance the budget? After all, people are

[[Page H5449]]

paying taxes, more revenues are coming in, and it is easier to balance 
the budget that way.
  But there is a part of that argument that I think is overlooked if we 
look at just first glance. What I am speaking of is, if we give people 
tax relief, we are going to have economic growth, we are going to have 
more jobs, more people working, more people paying tax revenues, and 
this growth will decrease the deficit faster than just mere cutbacks in 
spending. We need to have both, but spurring economic growth is the key 
part of deficit reduction.
  Let us look at the picture of taxes. In the 1950's, the average 
middle-class Federal tax burden was about 6 percent. In the 1970's, it 
was 16 percent. In 1994, it was 23 percent. But by 1995, the total tax 
burden was up to 39 percent, 24 percent of that being in Federal income 
tax alone. That is up from 5 percent in the 1950's.

                              {time}  1530

  Members can see what a huge portion of family income taxes take. Mr. 
Speaker, I believe that the higher the tax rate of middle-class 
Americans, the less time they have together as families, because when 
we had a 39-percent tax burden, what that is saying is that the second 
income of the family just goes to pay taxes. Mom and dad are both 
working. The second income goes to pay the taxes, 39 percent. Do your 
own math in your own house.
  The tax relief that we are trying to get passed and we are working on 
a bipartisan basis with the President on it, gives tax relief to people 
who earn between $20,000 and $75,000. Seventy-six percent of the tax 
relief package goes to middle-income families making between $20,000 
and $75,000. Of that, 90 percent of it goes toward education, the HOPE 
scholarship to make it more affordable through a deduction program and 
a tax credit program to send kids to college. Then $150 billion of it 
goes to the $500-per-child tax credit. There is a big disagreement at 
this point with the President on it. We are trying to work out our 
differences. The President wants to give that $500 tax credit to people 
who do not pay Federal income taxes, whereas the Republican plan says 
now you only give tax relief to those who pay income taxes.
  It is a very important thing; because if you take a woman, say a 
single mother named Susan, she has a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old, 
under the Republican plan, Susan would get a $1,000 tax relief check 
from the government, $1,000 less in taxes. Under the Clinton plan, she 
would get zero, because the President's proposal is to say that once 
the child turns 12, no tax relief.
  But what is worse is if you had a man out there who had three or four 
kids and he was not paying Federal income taxes, he could get $2,000 or 
$2,500 worth of tax relief even though he is not paying the taxes. He 
still, if he is eligible, is going to get all kinds of welfare-type 
benefits, like Medicaid and public housing and welfare cash benefits 
from the DFACS or temporary assistance to needy families. He will get 
food stamps, WIC, and so forth. But the check comes from Susan and her 
14-year-old and her 16-year-old. That is not fair to single working 
women around America.
  If you want to know more about this tax program, I would recommend 
that you look it up on the International Web. Get beyond the Republican 
versus Democrat debate. The Democrats have a web page, too. I do not 
know what their web page number is, but this is the Republican web 
page. If you will look it up, it is http://hillsource.house.gov and you 
can figure out what the tax relief would be for you.
  Again, why is it important to give middle-class Americans tax relief? 
Because if you have more money in your pocket because we as a Federal 
Government have confiscated less of it, what Susan will do with her 
$1,000 is she will buy more shoes, go out to eat more, maybe buy more 
clothes, do whatever, she will have more consumable income. When she 
does that, because 58 million Americans will be able to do that, 
businesses will expand, jobs will be created, less people will be on 
welfare, more people will be paying taxes and just like Kennedy and 
Reagan proved, tax cuts actually increase the revenue because of the 
economic growth.

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