[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 29, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H5924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            BIPARTISAN AGREEMENT ON TAX RELIEF FOR AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Ganske] is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GANSKE. Madam Speaker, Congressmen and women from both sides of 
the aisle are just getting the details on the balance-the-budget plan 
and the tax cut plan that has been agreed to by the congressional 
leadership and the administration. The details look good, and I am 
happy to see this morning that we are getting bipartisan support for 
this tax cut bill and for this spending bill.
  There will be a lot of important things in this bill for the average 
citizen in this country. One of the details I heard about last night 
was that we will move up the deductibility of our health insurance for 
the self-employed to 100 percent. I do not have the details to tell 
over what period of time, whether that will be immediate or not, but I 
know that this is part of the budget.
  As a physician, I have been very much concerned about making health 
care more affordable for the average citizen, and by making 100 percent 
of one's premium deductible will help people afford health insurance. 
This will put an awful lot of people back on to health insurance that 
are not on it now.
  One of the other issues that is in the tax bill that affects people 
in my district, where I have a large farming community, is that they 
will be able to income-average over 3 years. People who farm know that 
some years they have good years and some years they have bad years, but 
over a period of time is how one sets aside funds for one's retirement, 
one's pension. By being able to income-average over 3 years, one will 
be able to smooth out those bumps and those lows, and I think it will 
be a good thing for farm communities and farmers.
  When we look at children's health, we are adding a lot more dollars 
into that to enable people to pick up health insurance for their 
children. There will be a number of ways for flexibility for people and 
States to implement that additional funding.
  People say, well, look, why did we not come to this agreement 
earlier? Part of the reason is that a decision had to be made on where 
to find the funding. Part of that additional funding comes from an 
increased tax on tobacco. I favor that. As a physician, I have treated 
people who smoke who have had lung cancer and throat cancer, mouth 
cancer. It also increases heart disease. Tobacco is not good for our 
health; everyone recognizes that. An increase of 10 cents per pack will 
get some additional moneys back into the health system, and to help 
people afford health insurance I think is the right way to go.
  When we look back over the last 4 years, we have had some immense 
battles here on the floor, but today and last night, as the 
administration, as Congress have come together on a bipartisan 
agreement, I think we are getting past that, we are getting on with the 
Nation's business. We are going to help save Medicare, we are going to 
provide tax cuts for working families, we are going to save Medicare 
for our senior citizens, and I think we are going to balance the 
budget.
  Let us keep our fingers crossed that the economy goes well over the 
next 5 or 6 years. But by moving toward a balanced budget, we are going 
to help ensure that the economy does well, and by freeing up capital 
with capital gains, we are going to increase jobs and help the economy 
grow.
  Madam Speaker, I think that we have made a lot of progress. I think 
we will see the rhetoric lowered on this floor, and I think the vast 
majority of people from the House and the Senate are going to support 
this piece of legislation, and I am very happy to be a Member of 
Congress today.

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