[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 132 (Monday, September 28, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H9090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 A TAX CUT, SOCIAL SECURITY COMPROMISE

  (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, I was forced to choose 
between keeping my promise to provide additional tax relief to working 
families and my pledge that every penny of Social Security taxes should 
go only to Social Security.
  The Democrats' demagoguery rings hollow. For 40 years they raided the 
trust fund. All of this year's $80 billion surplus will go towards 
debt, not new programs. But there was a grain of truth to the arguments 
that they raised. Ending the marriage penalty and making Social 
Security solvent are not mutually exclusive. A compromise can be 
reached so that tax cuts can be phased in after our obligations to 
Social Security have been met. This could begin as early as next March.
  When Americans allowed Washington to take money from their paychecks 
to fund Social Security, they never told Washington to keep the change.

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