[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 34 (Thursday, March 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2315-S2316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BROWNBACK:
  S. 539. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase 
the maximum taxable income for the 15 percent rate bracket, to replace 
the Consumer Price Index with the national average wage index for 
purposes of cost-of-living adjustments, to lessen the impact of the 
noncorporate alternative minimum tax, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.


                            tax legislation

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, today, I have introduced a proposal for 
a tax cut which I think answers a number of questions that people have 
been putting forward. I hear both sides of the aisle talking about a 
tax cut and the willingness to have a tax cut. Some are saying we need 
it to be targeted; some say we need to do it with the marriage penalty; 
others say we need a broad-based tax relief to take place.
  The proposal I am putting in today would expand the 15-percent tax 
category over a period of 10 years and raise that to the level of the 
maximum amount at which we tax Social Security. What it does is, we 
broaden that 15-percent tax bracket. We make it such that it will take 
care of most of the marriage penalty. It will be economically 
simulating in that it will be a great relief for a number of people 
that grow into that 15-percent category, then, as we expand it. And it 
will be middle-income targeted because it will be that category of 
people making in the 15-percent rate and growing it up to $72,000 over 
a period of 10 years.
  I think this answers a lot of questions on what we have been putting 
forward. We set aside every dime of Social Security money for Social 
Security, period. We do that. All those funds flowing into Social 
Security will remain and stay with Social Security. Not a dime of that 
is touched.
  With the other resources that we have coming in that are building the 
surplus, let's do this sort of tax cut that moves to the middle-income 
category and addresses the marriage penalty problem. That is 
economically stimulating and is one that I think can be fair and 
helpful to our growth.

[[Page S2316]]

  This is the final point I will make, as I intend to be brief about 
this. We are at a period of being able to talk about solving Social 
Security and paying down debt and providing tax cuts and dealing with 
education problems because we have a strong growing economy. We have a 
growing economy that is producing these sorts of revenues. We have to 
maintain that, and the lead thing that we can do to maintain that is to 
provide for economically stimulating tax cuts like what I am proposing 
here, and broaden that 15-percent tax rate, target it for people there, 
and have an economically stimulating benefit from that occurring. I 
think that is the way that we need to go to be able to maintain what we 
have in place now in this healthy economy and to be able to deal with 
these sorts of issues, to stimulate education reform, and to have the 
funds for education, as well.
  Mr. President, that is the proposal I have introduced today. I urge 
my colleagues to look at it, and I would appreciate their support for 
this bill as we press forward on this broad-based debate on what we are 
going to do about this budget and how we continue the strong economy.
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