[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 106 (Thursday, July 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H5669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                         GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS

  (Mr. ROTHMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, now is the time to give a tax cut to 
working and middle-income Americans. But there is good news and bad 
news in America today. The good news is that in the last 4 years, the 
Democrats, under President Clinton, have brought down the deficit, 
reduced the size of government, and we are on course to balance the 
Federal budget. It is time to give American families some of their 
hard-earned money back.
  But the bad news today is that the Republicans want to give most of 
the tax cuts to the very wealthiest of Americans. Under the Republican 
plan, almost 70 percent of the tax cuts would go to the top 20 percent 
of income earners in America. Working and middle-class Americans need 
and deserve the tax cuts more. There is a difference between the 
Democrat tax cut plan and the Republican tax cut plan.
  I have put forward a bill called the Lifetime Learning Affordability 
Act, which would actually give parents tax deductible IRA-like savings 
accounts so hardworking Americans could provide for their children's 
college education in a cheaper and safer way. Mr. Speaker, it is time 
we invest in working and middle-class Americans with a tax cut for 
them, not the rich.

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