[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 14, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H4098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       BUSH JOBS AND GROWTH PACKAGE PROMISES RECOVERY FOR ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Harris) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. HARRIS. Mr. Speaker, I am amazed by the revisionist history that 
continues to accompany these arguments against the jobs and growth 
package. We continue to hear the accusations that the President's 2001 
economic plan has not worked. Against what benchmark are we evaluating 
the success of this policy?
  President Bush inherited a speculative bubble that had burst into the 
Clinton-Gore recession when this body first passed that plan. September 
11, of course, worsened our economic outlook even more dramatically. 
What was the result, then, of the President's 2001 economic plan? A 
potential depression became one of the shortest recessions on record.
  Now the economy is growing again, but the American people continue to 
fear for their own economic security and for the dreams they nurture 
for their children and their grandchildren. The recovery remains 
sluggish because the temporary nature of the 2001 tax cuts has 
restrained businesses from fully returning to an investment and growth 
mode. An unpredictable and ever-changing Federal tax policy is inimical 
to the long-term, predictable model that businesses require. Thus, this 
year's jobs and growth package finishes the job that President Bush and 
Congress started in 2001.
  Mr. Speaker, President Bush's plan to revitalize our economy is 
rooted in values instead of expediency. It reflects the belief and the 
genius of the American people instead of the power of government. It 
follows the principle that the American people are better than 
Washington bureaucrats when it comes to creating jobs and wealth.
  John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan understood the power of this idea. 
They featured tax cuts as the centerpiece of their economic agenda, 
launching two of the longest economic booms in American history. When 
Ronald Reagan inherited a shattered economy wracked by double-digit 
inflation, 20 percent interest rates, long gas lines, and stagnant 
productivity, he turned the conventional economic wisdom on its head. 
At the time, the so-called experts told us that high inflation was a 
necessary evil of a growing economy. They also said that the Reagan tax 
cut plan would not fix the economy; it would only worsen inflation. 
They were wrong.
  President Reagan once quipped that when a friend of his was asked to 
a costume ball, he slapped some egg on his face and went as a liberal 
economist.
  President Bush's plan will rescue us from the economic morass the 
last administration left behind, just as Ronald Reagan's visionary 
leadership accomplished more than 20 years ago.
  The jobs and growth package the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Thomas) has proposed includes all of the President's priorities, 
including the acceleration of individual rate cuts, marriage penalty 
relief, an increase in the child care tax credit, and a dividend cut. 
It also includes a capital gains tax cut that our economy desperately 
needs. Balancing the budget remains a very important objective, and 
growing the economy while controlling spending is the best way I know 
how to achieve that goal. I am concerned about deficits, but I am much 
more concerned about making certain that Americans have jobs.
  The Federal Government's tax revenues increased after the 1981 Reagan 
tax cuts. The deficits of the 1980s occurred because spending increased 
at a more rapid pace than revenue. Thus, we must keep spending in 
check.
  This legislation will provide immediate stimulus to the economy and 
to the stock market, creating more jobs and opportunity. Moreover, this 
bill will produce the prosperity over the long term, providing 
desperately needed tax relief for every American who pays our bills.

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