[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 10 (Wednesday, February 11, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE PRESIDENT'S PROPOSED NEW TAX INCREASES

  (Mr. SOLOMON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from New 
York is recognized for 1 minute.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I will not bother taking the well, but I 
just wanted to say that last week President Clinton proposed a budget 
with $106 billion of new tax increases in it.
  While all taxes punish personal thrift and freedom, the President's 
proposal to raise taxes on financial products which encourage long-term 
investment and savings are particularly ill-conceived.
  It is incredible that the President, who is fully aware of the 
impending crisis in Social Security, would propose to hike taxes on the 
products that American families and businesses use to plan for their 
own retirements. Millions of American families use this very life 
insurance product to save for retirement, adding to the supplemental 
Social Security check that they might receive.
  Mr. Speaker, surveys show that many moderate-income families use 
private sector retirement products such as annuities to plan for their 
future. In fact, many of the owners of annuities are women. They are 
women, 55 percent of whom are married, while 28 percent of them are 
widowed.

                              {time}  1630

  They are the people that control most of these small annuities in 
America.
  The President proposes to increase the tax burden on these same 
annuities--annuities that 85% of the owners intend to use as the 
fundamental source of their retirement savings. Why should government 
discourage these families from saving their money?
  Mr. Speaker, this is an irresponsible and ill-advised proposal for 
the many Americans struggling to get by and yet still plan for the 
future.
  I urge my colleagues to reject President Clinton's tax increases on 
America's families and their future. The future of the American family 
deserves better.

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