[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 129 (Thursday, September 24, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H8617-H8619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2030
                 WHO DO YOU TRUST? WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 7, 1997, the gentleman from South Dakota (Mr. Thune) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, I have been listening with interest this past 
hour to a number of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and 
it always amazes me to get a glimpse into the mind of a liberal because 
they really think that it is their money. On the other hand, we think 
that it is the American people's money.
  We listen to them talk about the reasons why we cannot lower taxes on 
hard-working Americans, on farmers and ranchers and small 
businesspeople and families, and we are at a loss sometimes as to how 
possibly they could have arrived at this point in time.
  As I listened, there were a number of things that were mentioned. For 
example, the fact that the economy is performing so well right now; we 
certainly do not need to lower taxes. It occurred to me as I was 
listening to that, we think about what makes the economy perform well. 
Low interest rates. Low inflation. Low taxes. And we look at where we 
were just a few years ago before the Republicans took control of the 
Congress and started to get wasteful government spending under control 
and started to look at ways to systematically lower the tax burden on 
people in this country and stimulating growth in this economy and 
stimulating investment and generating additional tax revenues.
  As a point of fact, back in 1994 before the Republicans took control 
of the Congress, we looked as far as the eye could see and we saw 
deficits 10 years into the future, $3 trillion in deficits

[[Page H8618]]

projected into the future. Just this last July, the Congressional 
Budget Office has revised its estimate and now for the next 10 or 11 
years out into the future they are projecting a $1.6 trillion surplus. 
$3 trillion in deficit in 1994 to a $1.6 trillion surplus in 1998.
  Mr. Speaker, think about that. That is almost a $5 trillion 
turnaround in a matter of 3\1/2\ years. And the President would like to 
take credit for that, but frankly the President taking credit for the 
good economy is about like the Easter Bunny taking credit for Easter.
  What happened is the Republicans got control of the Congress, began 
to roll back a lot of wasteful discretionary spending, worked with the 
entitlement programs to make those programs more efficient, and saved 
the taxpayers billions and billions of dollars on the spending side of 
the equation.
  Couple that last summer with the Balanced Budget Agreement and the 
tax cut that came with it and we saw a rollback of taxes. Capital gains 
tax relief, death tax relief, tax relief for families, education 
credits, and so forth to make it easier for people in this country to 
make a living and pay their bills and pay their taxes and to try to 
fulfill all the responsibilities and obligations that they have.
  So, the fact that we have an economy that is performing well today is 
in many ways attributable to the changes that have been made since the 
1994 election when this majority got control of the Congress. And to 
think and to sit and listen to the other side rant and rave about the 
fact that somehow, some way, the Republicans are going to raid Social 
Security to give tax cuts to their rich friends is just another lie, 
like the lie about the Republicans wanting to kill Medicare or wanting 
to kill school lunches or any of those other things, and the American 
people are tired of it.
  We have been predicting that this would happen, and it is happening 
because one after another the parade of speakers coming to the floor on 
the liberal side of the aisle say that these Republicans want to cut 
Social Security.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to tell the American people that that is not the 
case at all. As a matter of fact, we have made a commitment to save 
Social Security. Look at what this plan consists of: $1.6 trillion in 
surplus that is going to be generated over the course of the next 10 
years, we are saying that $1.4 trillion, 90 percent, ought to be walled 
off and used to save Social Security. And not only for the current 
people, current generation who is receiving Social Security benefits, 
but for those who are paying in today.
  And I can tell my colleagues, personally nobody is more interested in 
seeing that program survive and be there than I. I have two parents who 
are about 80 years old who rely on that program as their sole means of 
existence.
  Then look at the young people who are paying in the FICA tax, the 
payroll tax, and are trying to balance the books in their families and 
trying to make ends meet and get a little bit ahead in life and they 
are hit with these taxes. We need to make sure that they have a program 
that is there for them in the future when it comes time to retire. We 
have made that commitment.
  The question I would ask of the American people as they listen to all 
that rhetoric on the other side about the Republicans wanting to cut 
Social Security is ask one question: Who was it that said in 1995 that 
they were going to reform welfare and did it? Who was it that said they 
were going to balance the budget in 1996 and 1997 and did it? Who was 
it that said we were going to lower taxes on American workers across 
this country and did it?
  Who was it that said we were going to save Medicare and make it 
viable for the next 10 years until we can get some long-range changes 
and reforms in place to make Medicare a program that will work well 
into the future and did it? Who was it that said they would reform the 
Internal Revenue Service and did it?
  It was this majority in this Congress. And the American people have 
to ask themselves a fundamental question as this debate gets underway 
and that is: ``Who do you trust? Who do you believe?''
  Should we believe the people who for 40 years have not put a crying 
dime into the Social Security trust fund? Or should we believe the 
people who promised welfare reform, promised a balanced budget, 
promised lower taxes, promised a Medicare program that worked into the 
future, promised IRS reform? That is the question that is before the 
House and before the American people as this debate gets underway.
  Mr. Speaker, I just happen to believe that when we look at a $1.7 
trillion annual fiscal budget, that the tax relief that is being 
proposed under the 90-10 plan, and the American people should bear in 
mind, $1.6 trillion in surplus, $1.4 trillion sealed off, walled off to 
save Social Security, and $80 billion in the form of tax relief.
  Mr. Speaker, $80 billion on a $1.7 trillion budget is less than one-
half of 1 percent to go back to the people whose money it is in the 
first place. But we cannot get that through the minds of people in this 
town, because if we listen to the debate that is going to occur from 
the liberals on the other side, they are going to talk about how we 
have all these reasons why we should not lower taxes.

  I heard the discussion tonight about farm prices being low, and I 
happen to agree. We are in a terrible economic disaster in rural 
America. And the gentleman from Washington alluded to the fact that 
some of it happens to do with unfair trading practices. Well, that is 
attributable to the Clinton administration's failure to enforce trade 
laws and agreements. But we have a terrible problem with farm prices. 
What are we going to do about that?
  One of the things that is proposed in this tax relief is that of the 
$80 billion, a bunch of it is going to help farmers and ranchers. I 
think that is worthwhile. Another proposal included is that by raising 
the threshold that the death tax applies to, the small farmer, the 
small rancher and independent producers in my State and other States 
have the opportunity, if they choose, to pass along their operation to 
the next generation without having to face both the Internal Revenue 
Service and the undertaker at the same time. I think that is 
remarkable, the death tax relief in this bill.
  Another thing that we talked about was deductibility of health 
insurance premiums for self-employed persons, farmers and ranchers, 
people who have to pay health insurance premiums and yet do not have 
some employer-provided plan and therefore take it out of their own 
pocket and do not get to deduct it like if they had an employer or they 
were employers and used that as an expense. Mr. Speaker, that helps 
farmers and ranchers.
  There is an provision that makes permanent income averaging. For 
farmers and ranchers there are lots of ups and downs, and unfortunately 
lately mostly downs. Some day that is going to come around and we are 
going to see income. We will have an opportunity to give our producers, 
farmers and ranchers, an opportunity to spread their income over time 
so that they do not get stuck with a big tax liability in one year.
  There is a provision that allows for a loss carryback. If one has had 
profitable years in the past, go back as far as 5 years and if they 
have had profitable years, but losses in the current year, they can 
take the losses, offset them, and use them against their profitable 
years and get a tax refund this year. Mr. Speaker, that is projected to 
help 100,000 farmers and ranchers across this country; something that 
is very critical right now to help with the cash flow problems that our 
farmers and ranchers are suffering from.
  If we want to do something about helping farmers and ranchers, 
instead of getting up and ranting and raving about how the Republicans, 
here they go again trying to give tax relief to their rich friends, 
think about the people that we are helping. The people in South Dakota 
that I represent, the farmers, the ranchers, the small businesspersons, 
the families that are trying to make a living and struggling to 
survive, are not rich. They need some help and need some tax relief.
  I heard this evening, ``We have to do this for our children.'' I keep 
wondering as I listen to that, where were these guys for the last 40 
years when we were racking up over $5 trillion in debt because of 
government spending that was out of control? Where were they then? Now, 
all the sudden we cannot lower taxes and give something back to the 
American people? We have to think of our children? And yet for

[[Page H8619]]

years and years and years in this institution when the other side 
controlled, had the majority control of the House of Representatives, 
we went in a cycle, a period of continual runaway Federal spending, 
racked up enormous deficits, and added to a debt that is now about $5 
trillion.
  So, Mr. Speaker, as we listen to this debate, and I hope the American 
people are tuning in, because frankly there is going to be a lot of 
rhetoric and hot air that fills this Chamber in the next few days. But 
I believe if we listen carefully to this debate, that it will not be 
lost on the American people that this is the same group that year in 
and year out, and this is an election year, we are going to hear people 
arguing and talking about how the Republicans want to kill this program 
or that program. And now they are saying that the Republicans want to 
kill Social Security.
  That in fact is not at all the case. We are here because we want to 
save that program and that is why we are dedicating this surplus, 90 
percent of it, to saving Social Security. Walling it off and giving 
that other 10 percent back to the American people whose money it is in 
the first place.
  That is what this debate is about. It is about being responsible to 
the taxpayers of this country. If we leave this surplus in this town, I 
can assure one thing. That is that it will get spent. There is no way 
that the Federal Government and the liberals in this institution will 
allow those dollars to stay here for very long.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to address some of 
these issues this evening. I wanted to respond to some of the arguments 
that I heard in the debate earlier from my friends on the other side of 
the aisle.
  I encourage the American people to tune into this debate. It is 
important. It is about their future and their tax dollars and seeing 
that they get the best possible return on their dollars.

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