[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TOBACCO LEGISLATION

  (Mr. GOODE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GOODE. Mr. Speaker, there is legislation pending before both 
Houses of Congress that would raise the excise tax on tobacco products 
by $1.50 per pack. As a practical matter, these proposals result in a 
total tax increase of at least $500 billion over 25 years. This tax 
increase of a half trillion dollars will fall most heavily on the 
American working men and women. Those who make $30,000 per year pay 43 
percent of the Federal tobacco tax burden.

                              {time}  2340

  The median income in the Fifth District of Virginia, which I 
represent, is less than $28,000 per year. In fact, if this excise tax 
of $1.50 per pack goes in, the Federal tax burden on the Virginia 
family in the Fifth District would be more than $500 per year, and that 
is a staggering tax increase for a family that is struggling to make 
ends meet.

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