[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 23, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S5529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               TAX RELIEF

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, we have been spending all of our time this 
week on taxes. I am delighted the tax bill has passed. Certainly there 
are different views on how to do it. There will always be different 
views when one raises the question of taxes or spending. There are 
different points of view. Much has to do with the priorities of people. 
Much has to do with the philosophy of what one thinks the appropriate 
role of the Federal Government is, what kinds of programs should be 
funded by the Federal Government. Those are the broad issues.
  I was very pleased when we did follow through, and the House, of 
course, passed tax relief in the amount of approximately $1.6 trillion, 
which is what the President requested. The bill that passed the Senate 
is something less than that. It is still a huge amount of money. Most 
of us cannot conceive what $1.3 trillion is, but nevertheless it is 
very close to the same amount and I think deals with the same 
principles that are so important.
  Taxes are one of the highest priorities for this Congress and, 
indeed, should be. Taxes are high priorities for this Congress because 
of the fairness question. It is a question of adequately funding 
appropriate programs.
  It is a high priority for the American people for much the same 
reason in that no one wants to pay more taxes than they have to, but 
most of us are willing to pay taxes. It is necessary to do that. 
Fairness is an issue. This is one of the President's first priorities.
  Interestingly enough, this and education are the two highest 
priorities, and soon we deal with the energy issue. Those are the three 
things that have been talked about the most in the last several months, 
so it is appropriate this Congress has focused on and made progress in 
those areas.
  The Senate will be going to conference with the House, and hopefully 
we will have it down to the President perhaps before this week is over. 
That is an excellent performance.
  On the tax bill we went through 50-some votes on amendments, which 
gave everybody a good opportunity to talk about the different issues. 
Yet the bill survived pretty much as it was reported out of committee. 
I congratulate the committee and the leaders.
  There are a number of principles involved. We talk about amount 
always but limited Government is part of it. One of the reasons for a 
return of taxes is because the citizens, the American people have paid 
more taxes than are necessary, and we have a surplus. Clearly, it 
should go back to the people who paid it.
  Quite frankly, my experience is if we have a surplus for very long, 
we will find a way to spend it even though it may not be one of the 
highest priorities. The principles of limited Government are very much 
a part of what we do.
  There are questions as to, when one projects out 10 years, how close 
the projections will come to the actual surpluses. I think any economic 
projection for 10 years has some variability in it. However, I believe 
all the professionals who have made this projection indicate it is a 
very modest projection and, indeed, it is very likely the surpluses 
will, in fact, even be higher.
  It is a time, too, when it is necessary to stimulate the economy. 
This is one of the ways the economy is stimulated--by letting people 
spend more of their own money. It is true it takes a while for all of 
this to kick in, but there will be some immediate impact, and that is 
vital to the economy.
  Fairness in the Tax Code is very important, and we have a hard time 
with fairness in the Tax Code. This bill provides more fairness in the 
marriage penalty where two single people who earn a certain amount of 
money marry, and their tax on the same amount of money is increased. 
That is a fairness issue and needs to be changed.
  It is something we need to do. We talk a lot about the simplicity of 
the Tax Code.
  We didn't do much about that. We are always wanting to give tax 
credits, so the Tax Code keeps getting larger.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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