[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 145 (Friday, October 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H9542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1415
                     INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS

  (Mr. SAXTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of talk currently about 
changing the Tax Code and doing away with the IRS, et cetera. I suspect 
that in some form or another, eventually we may get to do something 
significant with regard to that. But in the meantime, there is an issue 
which cries out for attention and that is the double taxation of 
savings under our current Tax Code.
  Americans are dissuaded from saving, a very healthy activity that we 
all recognize; that is, savings. They are dissuaded because they tax 
money before it is saved and then we tax the returns on the money that 
is saved. That is why I recently introduced a bill to expand the 
individual retirement account provisions to include savings to be 
exempted for medical care, for education, for first-time home buyers, 
for unemployment as well as for retirement. These are all worthy goals, 
and I ask other Members to look seriously at this bill with an eye 
toward supporting our effort to reform and revise and expand the IRA 
provisions.

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