[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 19 (Tuesday, March 3, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E271]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          PRESIDENT CLINTON'S OBJECTION TO THE TAX CODE SUNSET

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                            HON. RON PACKARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 3, 1998

  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, yesterday President Clinton announced his 
objection to Congress' proposal to terminate the tax code by the end of 
the year 2001. I would like to take this opportunity to voice my 
disappointment in the President's decision to reject our legislation.
  The tax code represents governmental arrogance at it highest level--
in punishes the right things and rewards the wrong things. We need to 
enact tax reform and put more money back into the hands of taxpayers.
  Improving the quality of life in America begins with letting families 
keep more of what they earn. In the last half-century alone, the 
federal government's take from families has skyrocketed from only five 
percent to over twenty-four. Add taxes at the state and local level, 
and nearly half a family's take home pay is spent just to keep 
government bureaucracies running. Mr. Speaker, lowering taxes returns 
power to where it rightfully belongs--out of the hands of government 
and into the homes of families.
  In his decision to object to the solution that we put on the table, 
President Clinton defended the status quo, a 10,000 page tax code that 
few can decipher and many agree is unfair. This code must be replaced, 
and setting a deadline on the current system is the right place to 
start. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand strong in the wake of 
the President's objection to our plan to sunset the tax code.

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