[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 126 (Friday, September 24, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PRESIDENT VETOES TAX RELIEF PACKAGE

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, oftentimes politicians talk about improving 
people's lives, but usually that is about as far as it goes, just talk.
  Well, true to form, yesterday the President had an opportunity to 
sign into law a bill that would directly help the American taxpayers, 
but he did not.
  The tax relief package just vetoed by this President would have given 
working families more freedom to run their lives the way they see fit, 
more freedom giving them more power, more time, more control over their 
lives. It would have reduced the marriage tax penalty, one of the most 
blatantly unfair demons in the Tax Code. It would have made it easier 
for workers to buy and cover themselves with health insurance. It would 
have made it easier for parents to save for their children's education. 
It would have eliminated the death tax, making it easier to pass on the 
family farm or family business to loved ones after a lifetime of work. 
It would have made it easier to invest and save for our future.
  Balanced and fair, it would have provided substantial debt reduction, 
protected Social Security and Medicare, and provided tax relief to 
American taxpayers. And Washington would have gotten a little less so 
that hard-working, taxpaying families could have a little more.
  I yield back the balance of any money Mr. and Mrs. America have left 
in their pockets.

                          ____________________