[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 18, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROPOSING A TAX LIMITATION AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
                                 STATES

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 12, 2002

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.J. Res. 96, the 
Tax Limitation Amendment of 2002. I urge my colleagues to support this 
important legislation.
  H.J. Res. 96 amends the U.S. Constitution to require that any bill, 
resolution, or legislative measure that proposes to change Internal 
Revenue laws must have the approval of two-thirds of those voting in 
the House of Representatives and the Senate. This requirement would not 
apply when a declaration of war is in effect, or when the United States 
is engaged in a military conflict which causes an imminent and serious 
threat to national security as found by both Chambers and the 
President.
  Mr. Speaker, in his famous McCulloch v. Maryland opinion, Chief 
Justice John Marshall stated that ``The power to tax is the power to 
destroy.'' This amendment sets out to make it more difficult for the 
Congress to arbitrarily raise taxes, and presumably, make the Federal 
Government more efficient and less bloated with unnecessary spending.
  History has shown that it is far easier for Congress to raise taxes 
to cover spending deficits than it is to reduce that spending to 
reasonable levels. This is all the more true today. Neither party wants 
to be held responsible for any future return to peacetime deficit 
spending. Should such an event appear likely to occur, the temptation 
to raise taxes to cover any potential deficit would be overwhelming.
  The enactment and ratification of this amendment would prevent a 
return to the situation which existed in our Nation 25 years ago. 
During the 1970s middle-class families were struggling to get by under 
crippling high marginal tax rates, which, thanks to high inflation and 
bracket creep, reached deeper into the working class ranks with every 
passing year.
  This amendment forces those who want to raise taxes, for whatever 
reason, to do their homework beforehand, and convince two-thirds of 
their colleagues in Congress of the need to do so. For this reason, it 
is a fiscally prudent idea, and one that merits being sent to the 
States for ratification.

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