[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 66 (Thursday, May 21, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H3736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HEFTY AND REGRESSIVE TAX BILL BEING PUSHED

  (Mr. McINTYRE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McINTYRE. Mr. Speaker, if any legislative body in the world 
should stand up for families, it is the United States Congress.
  Suddenly, in a mad rush to pursue political agendas, this body has 
nearly forgotten a certain group of families who, since the very 
beginning days of this Nation, have known for generations tobacco 
production as a way of life; a way of life that pays their bills, that 
helps build their communities' schools and hospitals and roads, and 
provides a way for thousands of hard working farmers throughout the 
Southeast to support their families.
  Just a short while ago those farmers left their fields, after a full 
day of tending their crops, and right now, at this moment, they are 
wondering if they have any future.
  Suddenly a hefty and regressive tax is being pushed that will hit 
hardest those in low- and middle-income brackets. Will families be 
first or last in this tax-and-spend agenda that will destroy the 
livelihood of honest working people?
  May God help this body if it turns its back on the farmers, their 
families and their communities.

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