[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 41 (Monday, April 15, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2670-S2671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TAX DAY 2002--PROGRESS AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS

  Mr. CRAIG. Madam President, on this April 15, Congress and the 
President have solid achievements to be proud of. But there is also 
much work that remains to be done on a tax code that is still too 
burdensome and complex.

[[Page S2671]]

  First the good news.
  We continue to see the many benefits of the Economic Growth and Tax 
Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. This year, hardworking Americans and 
their families have a little more freedom, and the Federal Government 
has a little less control over their lives.
  Most taxpayers saw the immediate results of this tax relief last 
summer, when rebate checks arrived in mailboxes across the country. 
These checks were the first installment in replacing the old 15-percent 
tax rate bracket with a new 10-percent bracket. Low-and-modest income 
families were given the highest priority, both in timing and in 
relation to their income tax burden.
  But help for families didn't stop there. The 2001 law has increased 
and expanded the child tax credit, increased the adoption tax credit to 
$10,000 per child, and provided relief from the marriage penalty, 
including the expansion and simplification of the earned income credit 
for working, low-income couples.
  Education benefits for families include deductions for college 
expenses, improvements to education savings accounts, student loan 
interest deductions, and the continued allowance of employer-provided 
educational assistance. There are also tax benefits for governmental 
bonds for public school construction.
  The phase-out of the death tax by 2010 is a major achievement in 
fairness for family-owned farms and small businesses.
  Individuals and families will be able to prepare for a more secure 
future because of increases to contribution limits on pensions and 
individual retirement accounts, fairer retirement provisions for women, 
and overall reductions in individual tax rates.
  The first major tax relief legislation in over twenty years has 
helped lighten the burden on taxpayers this year. President Bush and 
Congress came together last year for the good of the American taxpayer, 
in a bipartisan compromise that was only a good start.
  There is much more we can and need to accomplish.
  First, we need to make permanent the tax relief in last year's law. 
The House is poised to pass a bill to do just that. I call upon my 
Senate colleagues to follow suit. Because of the technicalities of 
budget law, last year's tax relief sunsets after 2010. That kind of 
sunset doesn't make sense for families, farms, and small businesses 
that need certainty and consistency for long-term planning.
  Second, Americans deserve more relief. Even after last year's tax 
relief bill, this still remains the most heavily taxed generation in 
American history.
  A typical family pays well over a third of its income in taxes at all 
levels. That is more than they spend on food, clothing, and housing 
combined.
  Every year, the Tax Foundation computes Tax Freedom Day, the day on 
which American stop working to pay taxes to government at all levels 
and start keeping what they earn. This year, Tax Freedom Day comes on 
April 27, 2 days earlier than 2001 and 4 days earlier than 2000.
  This is progress, but it still means Americans work 117 days a year 
for the government, instead of for their families and their futures. 
Looked at another way, out of each 8-hour workday, Americans work more 
than two and one-half hours for the tax man.
  Third, Americans need and deserve a fairer, flatter, simpler Tax 
Code.
  In 2002, Americans will spend an estimated 5.8 billion hours and $194 
billion to comply with the Internal Revenue Code, or about $700 for 
each man, woman, and child in America. More than half of taxpayers go 
to paid tax preparers, many out of the sheer fear of an intimidating 
Tax Code, because millions of those taxpayers file only the simplest 
forms. Combined, the Federal Tax Code and its regulations number 7 
million words in more than 700 separate sections.
  This April 15, Americans are better off than last April 15, because 
they are keeping more of their own, hard-earned income. But we can and 
must do better.
  When Americans are not strapped down by excessive taxes and red tape, 
they work, save, spend, and invest according to their needs, and their 
dreams. This means more secure jobs, better wages, innovative products 
and services, and a stronger nation.
  Helping Americans meet their needs and realize their drams, with tax 
relief and reform, remains a major challenge before the Senate this 
year.

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