[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 129 (Thursday, September 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H8539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                TAX CUTS

  (Mr. KIND asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KIND. Mr. Speaker, the House this week is going to be considering 
an $80 billion tax cut. As far as tax cuts are concerned, the 
provisions contained in it would receive wide bipartisan support in 
this body. Perhaps it is not as pro-growth oriented as much as I would 
like to see, but as far as tax cuts, it is not bad.
  The problem is, it is going to be relying on the so-called surplus to 
pay for it. The fact is, there is no surplus unless we are willing to 
borrow and steal from the Social Security trust fund.
  I commend the leadership for being up front and honest about it, that 
they are intending to take the money from that trust fund to pay for 
this tax cut, but it is the wrong policy. It is the wrong thing to do 
for our seniors and children, and we should not engage in that election 
year tax cut in order to satisfy a certain constituency.
  Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, was on the hill 
yesterday and when asked what would be the best use of the so-called 
surplus, he said, I will tell you what not to do. Do not use it for a 
permanent new spending program and do not use it for tax cuts when the 
surplus may never materialize in this very volatile international 
financial crisis which may have a devastating impact on the U.S. 
economy.
  I encourage my colleagues to oppose the tax cut.

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