[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 125 (Friday, September 18, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H8080-H8081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            TAX RELIEF LEGISLATION FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, there is a crisis in rural America. 
Yesterday, we announced a $3.9 billion relief package, which I hope 
will start us down the path toward recovery. Next week, the House will 
vote on important tax relief legislation for America's farmers and 
ranchers.
  Now, I just want to warn the American people about one thing, because 
these are some of the ploys that are going to be used by our liberal 
friends. The argument is going to be made over and over again, by an 
endless parade of folks from the other side, that the Republicans are 
raiding Social Security to give tax cuts to their rich friends. I have 
got to admit, the other side is not creative but they are predictable: 
Try and scare older Americans.
  The fact of the matter is, and make no mistake about it, that these 
are the same folks who ran the House for 40 years and did not put one 
dime into the Social Security trust fund. On the other hand, our 
leadership has committed that 90 percent of the surplus, or $1.4 
trillion, will be walled off and put aside for Social Security.

[[Page H8081]]

  So when you hear the endless parade of speakers from the other side 
come down here, listen but bear in mind one thing. The question is, who 
are you going to trust? Are you going to trust the people who 3 years 
ago took control of the Congress and said that we would balance the 
budget and did it, who said that they would reform welfare and did it, 
who said that they would cut taxes and did it, who said that they would 
save Medicare and did it, who said that they would reform the IRS and 
did it, and who are now saying that we will save Social Security by 
taking the surplus, 90 percent of it, $1.4 trillion, and walling it off 
to save Social Security? Or are you going to believe the folks on the 
other side who for 40 years did not put a penny into the Social 
Security trust fund?
  That is the question I think the American people have to ask 
themselves because it really is a matter of who are you going to trust? 
I would submit to the American people that we have an opportunity, with 
the tax relief bill that we are going to be voting on next week, to 
wall off 90 percent of the surplus, $1.4 trillion, over the course of 
the next several years, to save Social Security, take the balance, 10 
percent, about $80 billion, and bring tax relief to middle income 
Americans, to families, by addressing the marriage tax penalty and 
taking steps to begin to eliminate that; by creating a small, safe 
exclusion in the Tax Code that allows people to put money aside and not 
pay taxes on it and by helping hard working farmers and ranchers across 
this country, in my State of South Dakota, who are trying to make a 
living, and feel the heavy hand, the heavy burden of government through 
taxes and regulation, because the 10 percent of the surplus that will 
be used for tax relief in this package is going to address a number of 
important issues for farmers and ranchers in my State of South Dakota.
  The first is the death tax. It is going to make it easier to pass on 
the family farm or the ranch or the small business on to the next 
generation so when people die they do not have to visit the IRS at the 
same time they visit the undertaker. That is an important change. It 
makes permanent income averaging, because farming and ranching is a 
very volatile business and this allows them to spread out over time 
their tax liability. It also allows for deductibility of health 
insurance premiums for self-employed people. Farmers and ranchers do 
not get to deduct important tax change.
  It also allows for a loss carry-back provision in which farmers can 
go back to their five most profitable years and, if they have 
experienced losses currently, taking their current losses against those 
profits and receive a refund from the Internal Revenue Service.

                              {time}  1330

  Important cash relief and tax relief and cash flow assistance to 
agriculture, where they desperately need it today. But we are going to 
hear again the parade of our friends from the other side, and they are 
our friends, but the fact of the matter is they are going to use the 
same old well-worn arguments to say that the Republicans want to give 
tax cuts to their rich friends, raid Social Security to give tax cuts 
to their rich friends.
  Mr. Speaker, I tell my colleagues one thing for certain. The farmers 
and ranchers in South Dakota are not rich. They are hard-working people 
who deserve a break, and we have an opportunity to do something that is 
meaningful to help them back on their feet and recover and back on to 
better times.
  I hope that the American people, and I want to put them on notice 
today, because they are going to hear it time after time after time 
again. This is the same argument that we have heard before. They are 
going to go after and try to scare older Americans.
  I say to America, do not believe it. We have a commitment to save 
Social Security. We have proven in the past that we keep our promises 
with welfare reform, with the balanced budget, with tax relief, with 
Medicare and IRS reform.
  Who is America going to trust and who are they going to believe is 
going to save Social Security for the future of America? That is the 
question that the American people have to answer. I hope as we have 
this debate in the ensuing days, that people are keenly aware of the 
arguments that are going to be made. But Americans should look at the 
record and ask themselves who they are going to trust.

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