[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 11 (Wednesday, February 9, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RESPONSIBLE TAX PLAN FOR AMERICANS

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, American families deserve a responsible 
plan for the surplus that strengthens Social Security and Medicare, 
that pays down the national debt, and that gives tax cuts that directly 
benefit the middle class. Unfortunately, the Republican leadership 
seems determined to pass an irresponsible tax cut before it develops a 
plan for the long term. Last year they tried to pass a trillion dollar 
tax bill that would have benefited the richest in our country. This 
year, they are trying to pass that package piece by piece.
  Madam Speaker, we need to eliminate the marriage penalty; and I 
support a proposal to do that. But this Republican scheme is 
irresponsible. The bill helps working families, middle class families 
very little, yet it gives huge tax breaks to the wealthiest couples. 
Millions of American families with children will get absolutely no 
relief at all. We must instead support a Democratic alternative which 
will both alleviate the marriage penalty and strengthen Social Security 
and Medicare while paying down the national debt.
  We need the surplus to be used in a responsible way that strengthens 
our country, not for another political gimmick, that the American 
people have already heard and have already rejected.

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