[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H5506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE 105TH CONGRESS

  (Mr. PORTMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have heard a lot about the do-nothing 
Congress. I am getting kind of tired of it. The 105th Congress has been 
a very active Congress. The balanced budget we all know about, the 
first balanced budget in over 30 years, the first tax cuts in over 16 
years, welfare reform that has moved people from dependency to dignity.
  This year we continue to be busy. Later today we are going to hear 
from the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) and others on major 
environmental legislation called the Tropical Forest Conservation Act. 
It comes out of this Congress. We will be saving millions of acres of 
rain forests every year around the world through this legislation.
  We just heard about the Salton Sea Restoration Act Congress is going 
to pass today. The IRS reforms, just last week the Senate passed 
historic IRS reforms. Since 1952 the IRS has not seen major reform. We 
are going to actually make the IRS work for the taxpayers, rather than 
the other way around.
  A do-nothing Congress? It sounds more to me like a Congress that is 
doing plenty, in response to the concerns of the American people.




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