[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 112 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H7622-H7630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




MOTION TO INSTRUCT CONFEREES ON H.R. 1308, TAX RELIEF, SIMPLIFICATION, 
                         AND EQUITY ACT OF 2003

  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I offer a privileged motion.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

       Ms. Solis moves that the managers on the part of the House 
     in the conference on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses 
     on the House amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 1308 
     be instructed as follows:
       1. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in 
     the conference report the provision of the Senate amendment 
     (not included in the House amendment) that provides immediate 
     payments to taxpayers receiving an additional credit by 
     reason of the bill in the same manner as other taxpayers were 
     entitled to immediate payments under the Jobs Growth Tax 
     Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.
       2. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in 
     the conference report the provision of the Senate amendment 
     (not included in the House amendment) that provides families 
     of military personnel serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other 
     combat zones a child credit based on the earnings of the 
     individuals serving in the combat zone.
       3. The House conferees shall be instructed to include in 
     the conference report all of the other provisions of the 
     Senate amendment and shall not report back a conference 
     report that includes additional tax benefits not offset by 
     other provisions.
       4. To the maximum extent possible within the scope of the 
     conference, the House conferees shall be instructed to 
     include in the conference report other tax benefits for 
     military personnel and the families of the astronauts who 
     died in the Columbia disaster.
       5. The House conferees shall, as soon as practicable after 
     the adoption of this motion, meet in open session with the 
     Senate conferees and the House conferees shall file a 
     conference report consistent with the preceding provisions of 
     this instruction, not later than the second legislative day 
     after adoption of this motion.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) 
and a majority Member each will control 30 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis).
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, this motion would instruct our conferees to accept the 
Senate amendment to H.R. 1308. This

[[Page H7623]]

amendment restores the child tax credit to 6.5 million families. It 
restores a tax credit to military families with members serving in 
combat zones overseas. It requires that restoring the child tax credit 
does not become an excuse for further tax cuts for the rich.
  We have had Democrats come to the floor every night this week to 
demand a child tax credit for all Americans. We have done so because 
while tax cut checks are going out today to some Americans, 6.5 million 
families will get nothing in their mailbox today. These families have 
12 million children. They will get nothing because last-minute changes 
by Republicans prevent families with incomes between $10,500 and 
$26,625 from receiving the child tax credits.
  We will not let these families be forgotten, and I will not forget 
the 140,000 families in my district in California that will get no 
child tax credit under the House Republican plan. These are working 
families, like the one pictured here, who told me how hard they are 
working just to provide for the basic needs of their children. This is 
a military family who saw fathers and mothers and sons and daughters go 
off to war. Across the country, there are over 250,000 children of 
active duty military families, such as this one depicted here, that 
will receive no child tax credit at all.
  Republicans had the nerve to say these people should not get any tax 
relief because they pay no taxes. It is true that while soldiers are 
collecting combat pay and are putting their lives on the line, they do 
not pay taxes, but they pay their debt to our government, to our 
society, with hard and dangerous work, with months spent far apart from 
their families and loved ones, and sometimes even ending in tragedy.
  It is true that families left behind by the Republicans do not pay 
Federal income taxes, but they do carry a far higher tax burden than 
the millionaires who would benefit the most from the tax cuts. This is 
because these low-income families, like this one depicted, pay sales 
tax, property tax and payroll tax. These taxes eat up a very high 
percentage of this family's income.
  When we learned of the exclusion of the low-income families from the 
tax cuts, Democrats came forward and protested and the country listened 
to them. Our colleagues in the other body quickly and overwhelmingly 
acted to fix the glaring omission, but here in the House Republicans 
only responded with more tax cuts for the rich. Under the guise of 
restoring child tax credit, they passed an additional $82 billion tax 
cut that benefits themselves more than the working poor like this 
family here, more than our soldiers, more than 6.5 million families who 
were left out of the original tax cut plan.
  Mr. Speaker, under the House Republican plan, a Member of Congress, 
like you and I, with two children will receive $1,750 while the same 
size family earning $20,000, like this family from my district, would 
only get $475. I did not come up here to represent myself, I came here 
to represent the people of my district, like this family here. How can 
I go back to my district and tell families such as this that their 
children will get no tax relief because Republicans choose to protect 
the wealthiest Americans in our country? How can I go home and tell 
these military families who sacrificed for our country that they will 
get nothing because Republicans would not even sacrifice a few thousand 
dollars of the millionaires' $93,000 tax cut?
  It is for these families and their children that my colleagues and I 
rise to instruct our conferees to accept the Senate amendment. We ask 
the House simply to accept language that restores tax credits to 12 
million children. That is fiscally responsible, and that does not 
neglect our military families. This is not a lot to ask for, and I hope 
this motion will pass as it did on June 12. Just yesterday our 
President, America's President, visited Michigan and Pennsylvania and 
he said, ``The child credit must be given to low-income families as 
well.'' Take a good look at this picture, and remember these families.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis) is 
recognized for 30 minutes.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth).
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky, a 
member of the Committee on Ways and Means, for yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, here we go again. What is before the House is a classic 
example of not letting facts get in the way of impassioned debate. My 
friend from California rightly has a concern for the working poor, and 
I appreciate her mention of a specific family earning about $20,000 a 
year. Now for the rest of the story where the silence has been 
deafening.
  Under existing law, we have the earned income tax credit specifically 
designed for the working poor. For a single mom with two kids earning 
$20,000 a year, a check is available from Uncle Sam for a total of 
$3,335, according to the Tax Foundation. On top of that, in the All-
American Tax Act, we even expanded the child tax credit, not 
inconsistent with what our President has said, so even more funds are 
available.
  It is true we expanded that child tax credit because we believe if we 
accept the philosophy of my friends in opposition here, if it is 
immoral to leave out children at the lower end of the socioeconomic 
scale, likewise it is unfair to limit those two-earner families, like 
the nurse practitioner who earns $63,000 a year and her spouse who is a 
school principal in the Awatukee section of Phoenix, both of these 
earning $64,000 a year, that should not invalidate their children 
either.
  What this majority has done in the House is to expand the child tax 
credit while keeping intact the earned income tax credit. And, sadly, 
the silence from the minority on existing policy is deafening.
  It will be interesting during the course of this debate to see if our 
friends will in fact acknowledge what they believed in public policy to 
be a triumph, but now is suddenly forgotten. I will not impugn their 
motives; but, Mr. Speaker, it is curious that for this entire week, my 
friends on the left have developed a severe case of political amnesia.
  Reject the motion to instruct, embrace expansive, fair and equitable 
tax relief for all families, and we will work with the other body to 
ensure that comes to pass in conference.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I remind my colleagues that this administration is now 
taking a very aggressive role to go after families that are seeking 
earned income tax credits. In fact, we should be spending more time 
going after the big guys like the Enrons, the WorldComs and all of the 
other corporations that do not have anybody tracking their abuses and 
fraud.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
George Miller).
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman 
for bringing this matter before the House.
  On June 9, the President made it very clear that he wants this tax 
credit for low-income working people, the tax credit for their children 
to be passed and put into law. He wants the Senate provision passed. 
That was 2 months ago. In those 2 months, the House and the Senate have 
done very little to advance this ball. Why? Because the extreme radical 
position of the Republicans in the House of Representatives has 
essentially kept a conference committee from taking place because they 
have decided that to take care of a $3 billion oversight in the tax 
credit, they want to spend $80 billion to get there.
  That is unacceptable to the President of the United States, that is 
unacceptable to the Senate on a bipartisan basis, and it is certainly 
unacceptable to many of us in the House of Representatives. They made a 
conscious decision in the last hours in the middle of the night in the 
consideration of the last tax bill that these children of low-income 
working parents would simply not get this credit. They had to make a 
decision between the millionaires who would get $44,000 a year in tax 
rebate; or if they gave the tax credit to low-income children's 
families, they would only get $38,000 in a tax rebate.
  The person making that decision was one of the big beneficiaries, 
Vice President Cheney. The children had the tax credit when Vice 
President Cheney

[[Page H7624]]

walked into the room; when he left the room, he had the tax credit and 
the poor children's families didn't have the tax credit. That is the 
history.
  Yesterday as the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) pointed out, 
the President was in Dearborn, Michigan, where he was hailing the first 
checks to go out to families seeking the tax credit, deserving of the 
tax credit; and once again, he asked Congress to pass legislation, to 
pass the Senate bill. He said he wants to extend it to all spectrums of 
society.
  Now maybe the Republicans in the House of Representatives think that 
President Bush is a wild-eyed, radical liberal who wants to take care 
of some families who are undeserving. I do not think he is. I think 
what he recognizes is that this is a matter of equity. This is a matter 
of whether or not people who go to work every day, work their tails 
off, and at the end of the year end up poor, and that this Congress 
decided we were going to place an additional value on the cost of 
raising these children, and we were going to help America's families 
with a child tax credit.
  But the Republicans in this Congress decided the poor children were 
not going to be worth as much. Just a cold-hearted calculation, stone-
cold decision that these poor children just are not worth as much. That 
somehow, their parents are not as noble when they go to work every day 
as millionaires are when they go to work every day.
  Mr. Speaker, that is the calculation that this President has asked 
this Congress, these Republicans to reject, and to pass the tax credit 
so that these children will get their share of equity in American 
society.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a sense of fairness, as the gentleman just 
spoke of a minute ago. In this Nation, it is really a great privilege 
to live here and to have all of the blessings of freedom that we have 
and all the opportunity that we have. But along with that blessing and 
the wonderful aspects of what we have in this great country comes a 
certain responsibility. One of those responsibilities that we have is 
to pay an income tax.
  We have in our system a progressive income tax system where those who 
make a great amount or more money than someone else will pay a greater 
amount of taxes, and those that make less money pay less taxes, and 
those that reach a certain level in this country, they pay no income 
tax whatsoever. They may pay payroll taxes and other taxes. In order to 
offset those other taxes, there is the earned income tax credit that 
gives back to families that do not make enough to pay income taxes the 
money to offset the other taxes that they pay.
  Now it seems to me that we have tried in this country to be as fair 
as we possibly can to all those in whatever income level they may be. 
When I think about this situation, those that are paying taxes are 
providing for a lot of things that we all get an advantage for: 
defense, infrastructure, highways, education, health care, law 
enforcement, and I could go on and on. When we look at what people pay 
in taxes, what they actually pay in taxes according to their income, I 
think we have tried to be as fair as we possibly can. I think those 
that are receiving earned income tax credits to offset their other 
taxes is certainly something that I do not think our friends on the 
other side of the aisle remember or understand or want to even talk 
about.
  H.R. 1308, the All-American Tax Relief Act does a lot of wonderful 
things. It increases the child credit to $1,000 per eligible child 
through 2010, eliminates the marriage penalty in the child credit, 
celebrates the increase in refundable child credit, it provides tax 
relief and enhances tax fairness for members of the Armed Forces that 
my colleague mentioned a little while ago. It suspends the tax-exempt 
status of designated terrorist organizations, provides tax relief for 
astronauts who die in space missions.
  Actually, the motion to recommit will do damage to a lot of families. 
The Democrat's motion to instruct allows the child credit to drop from 
$1,000 to $700 after the 2004 election. As a result, millions of low- 
and middle-income families will receive a smaller child tax credit 
right after the elections. The House-passed bill ensures that the child 
credit remains at the $1,000 level throughout the decade. The 
Democrat's motion to instruct does not eliminate the marriage penalty 
in the child credit until 2010, and even then, it only does so for 1 
year.
  Under the Democrat's motion, millions of children will be denied the 
child credit simply because their parents are married. The House-passed 
bill benefits middle-income families by eliminating the child credit 
immediately. The House-passed bill does not deny the child credit to 
military families. Military families include those who are deployed 
abroad who are already receiving a refundable child credit, and will 
continue to receive a refundable child credit under the House-passed 
bill.
  The Democrat's motion to instruct would only increase the refundable 
child credit for some military families by allowing them to take into 
account tax-free income when they compute their refundable credit.
  This motion to instruct, I think, is without merit. I ask my 
colleagues to vote ``no'' on the motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. George Miller).
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I find it incredible 
that the gentleman on the other side of the aisle would suggest that 
somehow these are not responsible people, that they accept the 
privileges of living in this country, but they are not responsible 
because they do not pay income taxes, so they are not entitled to the 
tax credit.
  These people would love to pay more taxes. They would love to be 
rich. They go to work every day hoping that someday they might get 
rich, might get a benefit. They would love to pay more taxes, but the 
gentleman says they are not responsible. I guess that extends to the 
soldier who is putting his life on the line to defend the privileges 
that the gentleman talked about, and because he gets tax-free income 
while he is in battle risking his life, his family should not get a tax 
credit?
  I think that soldier is a fairly responsible individual, and I bet 
his family is fairly responsible. But he does not pay much in taxes 
because we do not pay him much to do his job. That is your idea of the 
trade-off in America between those who are entitled in America and 
those who get privileges? This tax cut is denigrating families who work 
hard every day, and their children, and the military.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman's time has expired.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. * * *
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is out of order.
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. * * *
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Solis) and I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. George 
Miller) for making it very clear about whether or not we in this 
country really value work and ordinary workers.
  Today is the day, July 25, that millions of child tax credits are 
going to start to be delivered to families around the country. 
President Bush went to Philadelphia to highlight those checks, to claim 
credit for getting some extra money into the pockets of working 
families.
  My two children, each of whom have two children, are probably going 
to get checks in the mail, and I am happy about it. They are modest-
income earners, and they are going to get their tax credit.
  But this family, the Narvaez family, Maria and two of her three 
children, she makes $20,000 a year. She works in a day-care center, she 
works 40 hours a week. She is not going to get a check in the mail. 
There is no check in the mail for her family. I want to tell Members 
that this hardworking woman, I would think, is as deserving of getting 
a check in the mail.
  Let us compare that to Vice President Cheney who made the deal in the 
dark of night to say well, let us see, the tax breaks went too high. It 
exceeded our budget; who are we going to cut out? I have got it: Let us 
cut out families like the Narvaez family.

[[Page H7625]]

  Vice President Cheney will see a tax break of about $116,000 for 1 
year. I am not talking income, I am talking tax break. Mrs. Narvaez, 
Maria, would have to work 5.8 years to get as much as Vice President 
Cheney is going to get in 1 year in a tax break.
  Let us see, who is more deserving; how about all those people, 
millionaires who go to work; no, maybe it is millionaires whose work is 
to cut open those envelopes that have dividend checks in them. Those 
people, do they deserve it more than the Narvaez family? I do not think 
so. Let us pass this motion to instruct, and let us get a child tax 
credit to the Narvaez family.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to the comments of the gentleman 
from California (Mr. George Miller). I certainly did not say that the 
working poor are not responsible. They are very responsible. I have 
been in that position. I have been among the working poor. I know how 
hard it is to make ends meet.
  But, I also was brought up in a family, my father a construction 
worker, a pipe fitter that was many times without a job, that a full 
day's work for a full day's pay; we accept things in our life that 
sometimes we do not like. We try to make ends meet many times when that 
is all we can do. Sometimes we cannot even make ends meet.
  I think we have provided in this country an opportunity for people 
that are working hard to receive an earned income tax credit to help 
them through the tough times.
  I am certainly someone who believes that we should help those that 
cannot help themselves that are in need. It is our responsibility to do 
that. I certainly appreciate our military for what they are doing. I 
appreciate all the efforts that are put forward in this country by all 
those who are willing to work and earn a full day's pay for a full 
day's work, and we should support them and their families every way we 
possibly can.
  But we also have to remember the liability. As I said, we have a 
progressive income tax system in this country. The liability, those who 
talk about the rich and how much tax relief they are going to get, 
well, how much are they paying in taxes? How much are those on the 
lower scale, how much are they paying in taxes? It is always how much 
refund are they going to get. Well, you have to pay income taxes to get 
a refund. If you do not pay taxes, we do provide an earned income tax 
credit. So we are helping.
  But this idea of class warfare, sure there are families out there 
working hard, they want to be rich.
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. I yield to the gentlewoman from Connecticut.
  Ms. DeLAURO. I thank the gentleman, and I understand the point that 
you are making, except the fact of the matter is that Enron paid no 
taxes the last 4 out of 5 years. There are companies who are paying 
zero in taxes, and yet they are the beneficiaries of a very, very hefty 
tax cut.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, reclaiming my time, Enron is 
being dealt with. No one appreciates what Enron did. It is a disaster 
for a lot of people, and they are being dealt with. It was really an 
embarrassment to our country that a corporation and the people that ran 
Enron acted the way they did, but that happens. That happens.
  Anyway, getting back to the subject, we are doing everything we 
possibly can to provide tax relief across the board, provide people 
that are not paying taxes as much help as we possibly can, and we will 
continue to do that. But this motion to instruct does more harm to 
helping families with children and receiving tax credit than it will do 
good.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Cooper).
  Mr. COOPER. Mr. Speaker, because of a very small group of Republican 
leaders, they are preventing this House from helping 12 million poor 
children around America. I would like to give my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle, the rank-and-file Republicans, the benefit of 
the doubt. I do not believe that their heart is in this fight. I 
believe they are being compelled by their leaders to do the wrong 
thing. It is still not too late to do the right thing.
  The checks are being mailed out today to the rich families in 
America, and Members know it was a mistake made also 2 months ago to 
prevent the other families in America from also getting help. That is 
not just my opinion. Our President, George Bush, called once again 
yesterday to help these children. President Bush is trying to be a 
compassionate conservative, but the other side of the aisle is not 
letting him do that. He has been calling for this 2 months now. Let us 
listen to our President. It is not just our President; the other body, 
by a vote of 94-2 has voted to do the right thing.
  But too often we see in the House younger Members, Republicans, 
compelled in some cases to do the wrong thing. It happened last week 
when Member after Member came to this House to say that the chairman of 
the Committee on Ways and Means had done the right thing; when, 
thankfully, that same chairman came to the House floor this week to 
admit that he had done the wrong thing.
  Do not support Republican leaders when they are asking you to do the 
wrong thing. Be the compassionate conservatives you claim to be. Help 
these 12 million poor children. It is not quite too late; but 2 months 
have passed, 2 months of waiting, 2 months of hurt for these families. 
These people work hard every day. They pay their fair share of taxes. 
Let us give them their fair share of tax help. Do the right thing today 
and vote for this motion to instruct.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from the 
Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen).
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, do we not value all of this country's 
children and families? This body has shortchanged our children too 
often this year, and it is adding up to a heavy burden on their 
families, all to make the wealthiest in this country richer.
  Underfunding for Leave No Child Behind, block grants to States with 
unmeetable requirements for Head Start teachers, and although it is a 
demonstration program, this is meant to be the first nail in the coffin 
of Head Start. We barely lost the vote last night, but Democrats will 
continue to fight for this country's children, all of them, but 
certainly those from lower-income families.
  Today I am here with my colleague, the gentlewoman from California 
(Ms. Solis) and other Democratic colleagues to call on this House to 
instruct the conferees first to act; and, second, to provide what the 
President promised, tax relief to the 6.5 million families and over 12 
million children. These families work hard, but in this economy this 
President has created, they still need help, and especially for the 
military families of soldiers who today are fighting for this country 
and fighting for us.

                              {time}  0945

  Democrats meant it when we said we will leave no child behind. Today 
we call on the leadership of this conference, and specifically the 
conferees, to expand the child tax credit and put our money where our 
mouth is and where our heart and our values should be.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Pallone).
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I listened to the gentleman from Kentucky, 
and he expressed a lot of sympathy with the plight of the people, the 
working poor and the people that we are trying to get some checks to 
this morning. But I listened to the gentleman and I could not believe, 
because he was suggesting that he was powerless to do something to help 
the working poor and the children that have been left out and the 
parents who are not getting this check.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I only have 2 minutes. I am trying to be 
nice, not critical.
  But the bottom line is this should not be ideologically driven. The 
fact

[[Page H7626]]

that they are not paying income tax is not important. They are paying 
property taxes. They are paying sales taxes. In a State like mine in 
New Jersey, one could be paying a tremendous amount in property taxes 
and sales taxes and all kinds of other taxes, payroll taxes.
  So I am just asking my colleagues, do not be ideologically driven. Do 
not say we cannot do this because they have not paid income taxes. My 
colleagues on the other side have the power. This is a political 
decision that is being made here.
  The Republican leadership is making a political decision that they do 
not want to help these people. They want to go home. They do not want 
to go to conference. They want to go on break without helping these 
people.
  Mr. Speaker, the other body is not saying that. They are supportive 
of what we are saying here. They want to send the checks and help these 
people. The President wants to help.
  So keep in mind, this is an ideology. Forget the ideology. I ask my 
Republican colleagues to forget what they think about whether it is 
good or bad from an ideological perspective. The bottom line is that 
these people need help. The gentleman from Kentucky acknowledged that 
he himself was in that position, or his family was in that position. 
That is all we are saying as Democrats.
  We know a lot of these people in the Armed Forces. Some of them are 
serving in Iraq. They need help. We go home. We will see them. They are 
constituents. They are having a hard time paying the rent and putting 
food on the table. They need help. The economy is not good. We are not 
doing well. They are having a hard time. Maybe if this was a better 
time, we might say do not do this; but it is not. The economic times 
are bad, and my colleagues cannot run away from this.
  Mr. Speaker, it is the Republican leadership in the House that is 
preventing this from happening. I urge my colleagues on the other side 
to do it before they go home and before we have the recess and go on 
vacation.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would just like to point out the child tax credit 
under current law is refundable to the extent of 10 percent of the 
taxpayer's earned income in excess of $10,500; salary and wages of 
$15,000, $450 refundable tax credit; $20,565, plus the earned income 
tax credit. It is $3,823 for a salary of $15,000; $2,770 for a salary 
of $20,000.
  So it is not like we are not helping. We are. And the fact is that 
these individuals are not paying income taxes, and we are offsetting 
those other taxes the gentleman just spoke of through the earned income 
tax credit. So we are, under current law, helping these individuals 
right now.
  Mr. Speaker, I might just say, I spoke to a young man and his wife 
not too long ago when we were debating the child tax credit for those 
that pay no income taxes. And they work at a factory. They are factory 
workers. They both work many hours of overtime. They have one child. 
And they were asking me why they had to pay the taxes that they pay, 
very high taxes, and they are taxed more because of the overtime that 
they work. And they were excited about the child tax credit for their 
own child. But when we were debating the issue of the child tax credit 
for individuals that pay no income tax, they asked me why that would be 
the case, that they were paying a lot of taxes, working very hard, 
overtime pay to provide for their family, and they seemed to think that 
was just a little, the playing field just was not level for them when 
they were doing everything they could. And they were not making a lot 
of money at that. I think $30,000 basically was their income.
  But we are trying our best to do all we can. And I think the numbers 
here show that we are helping the working poor, those that are paying 
no income taxes. We are helping them through the earned income tax 
credit and through child tax credit, 10 percent of the taxpayers that 
earn incomes in excess of $10,500.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I do want to clarify something. There are over 337,000 
children of teachers, classroom teachers that are left out of this 
child tax credit. They pay payroll tax, gasoline tax, rent, property 
taxes, and other types of taxes. I would think that their burden falls 
very heavily on their children, and yet they get nothing.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, today the Federal Government is sending out 
checks to 25 million families in this country. More than 2 months after 
this House passed the President's tax bill, among those receiving their 
checks in the coming days will not be 6\1/2\ million taxpaying 
families, taxpaying families, taxpaying families: property taxes, 
payroll taxes, sales taxes. They pay taxes. They make low wages, yes. 
So what is wrong with making low wages? Those who make low wages do pay 
taxes.
  My mother was a factory worker. She worked in the old sweatshops. She 
did not make a lot of money, but she paid her taxes like others do. Why 
should families not be allowed to have a child tax credit? These 
families were denied what they were rightfully due, the extension of 
the child tax credit, because they make low wages and for the last 2 
weeks on this floor Democrats have been offering a motion to instruct 
conferees. We have implored the leadership of this House: do what is 
right; act on what the other body's legislation is.
  Mr. Speaker, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have 
criticized our motion. They argue that this would drop the child tax 
credit from $1,000 to $700 immediately after the 2004 election. There 
is a word for this type of argument: hypocritical. The child tax credit 
will already drop after the 2004 elections. That is no coincidence. It 
is a result of a deliberate decision made by the Republican majority to 
drop the credit once these families go to the polls with the impression 
that they are going to get the credit again in 2005.
  Not so, my friends. Under the Republican-passed tax legislation, as 
the law stands today, the $1,000 credit goes down, it goes up, it goes 
down. It is more a seesaw than tax law.
  When it came time to choose between a child tax credit or the tax 
cuts for the wealthy, they chose the latter over and over and over 
again. To meet their $350 billion goal, they cut out people who make 
$10,500 a year to $26,000 a year in favor of those who make over a 
million dollars a year who are going to get $93,000 in a tax cut every 
single year.
  The President said it yesterday, he said it in June: adopt what the 
Senate has done. Fix this issue. Let us give these families what they 
want.
  Mr. Speaker, let us abide by that. Let us go with that. Let us make 
sure that what we do allows today those 25 million people who are going 
to get their child tax cut. Let us make sure that those families who 
make $10,500 to $26,000 they get their child tax credit. They deserve 
it. It is the right thing to do. It is the moral thing to do, and that 
is the obligation of this House.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Woolsey).
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Solis) for organizing this morning's discussion, 
because here we go. Is it not ironic that while the Nation is facing 
one of the biggest budget deficits in history, at least $450 billion, 
and I quote from the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis), ``Enron 
happens.'' Yes, it does. And we need to be doing something about it.
  Republicans can find the money to provide tax cuts for the very 
richest Americans and not enough for the children of America's working 
families. Ha. The gentleman from Kentucky said Republicans are trying 
their hardest. Well, I am telling my colleague, Republicans have to try 
harder.
  This supposed party of compassionate conservatism has exploited the 
child tax credit issue to pass even more tax cuts for their wealthy 
friends. Rather than bringing up the other body's child tax credit 
which would have cost $3.5 billion, they passed a bill that costs $80 
billion to benefit the wealthiest in this Nation.
  Earlier this week, I joined my Democratic colleagues in writing a 
letter to President Bush requesting that he lead the Republicans in 
Congress to do the

[[Page H7627]]

right thing, to provide a tax cut that will benefit over 12 million 
children of working families. One million of them, I remind my 
colleagues, one million of them are children of military families.
  Congress must not recess today without giving American workers and 
their families the same consideration it gives the rich.
  Why did Republicans in the United States House of Representatives not 
follow the other body and bring a clean child tax credit bill before 
us? According to a colleague from the other side of the aisle, and I 
quote: ``If we are going to do it, we should get something in exchange. 
If we give people that do not pay taxes a tax break, it is welfare.''
  Well, Mr. Speaker, these families do pay taxes and they are not 
seeking welfare. They are seeking the same acknowledgment for their 
hard work as the rich receive in the Republican tax package. It is 
unfortunate that the Republicans believe these forgotten children and 
families do not contribute enough to deserve a break. Their actions 
leave no doubt that their priorities are dead wrong.
  Mr. Speaker, we want to pass this tax break and we want to do it 
today before we go home to enjoy our tax breaks that we have passed in 
the House of Representatives.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire about the time 
remaining on both sides.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simpson). The gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Solis) has 8 minutes remaining, and the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Lewis) has 15\1/2\ minutes remaining.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman 
from California (Ms. Lee).
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the motion offered by my 
colleague from California, and I want to thank her for her 
extraordinary leadership. The Republicans are holding this measure 
hostage because they really want to avoid doing what is right. They 
knowingly left out millions of families in their tax bill.
  Mr. Speaker, this is shameful and that is why we have been protesting 
their failure to provide this vital relief for working families. When 
the child tax credit was created in 1975, it was for the purpose of 
helping families, not hurting them.
  President Bush said that all Americans would receive tax relief, but 
that was not the case. Initially, it seemed that the President's $400 
per child increase in the child tax credit was meant to help all 
families, but what we did not know was that the Republicans really did 
not mean ``all families.'' Their idea of helping families did not 
extend to low-income working families, the same people who were already 
left out of the President's tax cut on dividends which President Bush 
offered the wealthiest Americans.
  When Republican negotiators went behind closed doors, suddenly these 
families of 12 million children were excluded from the child tax 
credit. Nationwide, that means one out of every six American children 
were excluded. These children come from families where the parents work 
hard and play by the rules. They deserve the same tax credit that other 
parents will receive, but they really need it more. Their families do 
not have the advantages that others have.
  In the jobs depression this administration has put us in, the loss of 
the $400 tax credit is like rubbing salt really in their wounds. Now 
let us be clear about some of the people who will be hurt by this huge 
inequity in the Republican tax plan, because the victims will be 
disproportionately African American and Latino and other people of 
color. 8.1 million taxpayers will receive no relief under the 
Republican tax cuts; 1.6 million of them are Hispanic.
  Mr. Speaker, 8.1 million represents 44 times the number of taxpayers 
who have incomes exceeding $1 million, yet the President and the 
Republicans have gone out of their way to help the wealthy. In fact, 
those people with incomes over $1 million will receive an average tax 
cut of $93,000 in 2003.
  In terms of the child tax credit, one-half of all African American 
families will not get the full tax credit, while one-quarter will 
receive no tax credit.
  And how can we abandon military families who are making tremendous 
sacrifices? One million children of military families were excluded 
from this tax package. So let us be for real in supporting our troops.
  Mr. Speaker, the situation is outrageous, and it really does show the 
Republican leadership's complete, complete lack of compassion in their 
very conservative agenda.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, we are talking about tax credits here. Tax credits. One 
has to pay income taxes to get tax credits. A credit is on a tax that 
has been paid to get a refund.
  My wife, not too long ago, said we needed a new automobile. And I 
said, great. I think the automobile dealer in town is having some 
tremendous rebates, so let's find the most expensive car we can buy so 
we can get a greater rebate. She did not think that was a very good 
idea because it was still going to be pretty expensive. So we are going 
to have to look at the less expensive cars. But I think we ought to get 
the rebate that the people who are paying for those expensive cars get. 
I mean, it is only fair. Or maybe I should not buy the car; maybe I 
should go down there and demand the rebate.
  Mr. Speaker, that is what we are talking about here. What we are 
talking about is taking money out of the pockets of people that are 
paying taxes, income taxes, and putting it in the pockets of people 
that are not paying income taxes. And on top of that, we are already 
providing earned income tax credits, plus for those that are making 
$10,500, we are paying child tax credits under current law.
  So I do not know what we are talking about here, but I think that 
there is some problem when we are talking about tax credits, when there 
are those who want to take money out of someone's pocket, like the 
couple that I was talking about a little while ago that works overtime, 
works as hard as they can, and I am not saying that the working poor 
are not working hard, but they are not paying taxes. They do not have 
to pay taxes. They are not making enough to pay taxes. And to account 
for the taxes that they are paying, to make up the difference, we are 
paying earned income tax credits. Plus for those over $10,500, we are 
paying child tax credits.
  But, Mr. Speaker, I do not think we ought to be talking about tax 
credits here. We ought to be talking about helping those who are not 
paying income taxes. We are taking money out of one taxpayer's pocket 
and putting it in the pocket of someone who is not paying taxes.
  Now, I think there can be an argument there that that is being 
compassionate. And being compassionate means that we are helping people 
that at some point cannot help themselves, and I think we are doing 
that. And I think the bill that we are talking about, H.R. 1308, 
provides a lot of help for families. A lot of help. And what this 
motion to instruct would do would reverse that. Again, I ask my 
colleagues to vote ``no'' on the motion to instruct.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify that, to my knowledge, there are 
about 178,000 children from farming families that are going to be left 
out with no child tax credit. Perhaps the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Reyes), our good friend and ranking member on the Committee on Armed 
Services, can speak to that effect about his experience as a veteran 
and how hard veteran families work.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Reyes).
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from California for 
yielding me this time.
  Mr. Speaker, time after time during these times that our families are 
deployed overseas fighting for America's freedom and for the freedom of 
others, we hear many Members of this body talk about how great our 
soldiers are, and they are; how great their sacrifices are, and they 
are; how great the sacrifice of their family and the sacrifices that 
they are making, and they certainly are.

[[Page H7628]]

  So perhaps I can clarify for my colleague here that one of the ways 
that we judge ourselves as a Nation is not about talking about today's 
heroes, but how we take care of yesterday's heroes. Cutting back 
veterans benefits is certainly not one of those ways that we honor the 
heroes of yesterday, because today's heroes fighting for our freedom 
across the country and across the world you are paying attention.
  Mr. Speaker, today, as we speak, tax rebate checks are being sent to 
families around the country. But in my own district of El Paso and 
across America, there are hardworking families and families of brave 
members of our Armed Forces whose mailboxes will be empty. The tax bill 
passed in May leaves behind 8 million children by denying their 
families full access to child tax credit. This law fails to give the 
child tax credit to those earning between $10,500 and $26,625 per year.
  Of the 8 million children left behind in this tax law, 1 million live 
with parents who are on active duty or are veterans. The children of 
our working families, especially those of our armed services, deserve 
better support from this body.
  Mr. Speaker, there are over 16,000 military families with children 
stationed at Ft. Bliss in my district. With loved ones serving in Iraq, 
these families understand more than most what it means to sacrifice for 
our Nation. These families certainly do not deserve to be left behind, 
I would say to the gentleman from Kentucky that is handling the time on 
the Republican side.
  The tax bill passed by this House penalizes enlisted soldiers who are 
serving in Iraq. For example, a staff sergeant with two children 
earning $29,000 qualifies for the child tax credit. But if this same 
staff sergeant is deployed in Iraq, 8 months, 10 months, 12 months, we 
do not know what the duration is. That is why they are frustrated, his 
taxable income drops and his children do not qualify for the tax 
credit.
  Mr. Speaker, this is no way to treat our soldiers. This is no way to 
treat those that we exalt here on the floor of this great House who are 
risking their lives for our country.
  This motion will help these families. It instructs conferees to 
include provisions to allow our men and women in uniform and their 
families to include combat pay in their gross earnings for the purposes 
of calculating eligibility for the child tax credit. They deserve it. 
We ought to provide it for them. Let us send a message to our hard-
working families that they count too and that we recognize the 
sacrifices being put on the line by military families around the world. 
Let us pass the Solis motion.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the 
distinguished gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), our Democratic 
leader.
  Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this very important 
motion to instruct conferees. In doing so, I want to acknowledge the 
excellent work and leadership of the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Rangel), the ranking member on the Committee on Ways and Means; the 
gentlewoman from Connecticut, (Ms. DeLauro), who has taken a very 
important role of putting this issue of fairness to America's children 
forward; the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis), a member of the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce, now a member of the Committee 
on Commerce, for her leadership; representing the freshman class, the 
gentleman from Maine (Mr. Michaud), the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Bishop).
  Mr. Speaker, night after night, night after night for the past 2 
weeks, Democratic Members have come to the floor to make the case for 
America's children, the case for the children of America's working 
families, the children of parents on active duty in the military.
  Mr. Speaker, see, this is a copy of the check the President is going 
around the country posing for pictures with, a check saying that this 
is a good day because the check is in the mail for so many children in 
America. The good news is that the check is in the mail for so many 
children in our country. The bad news is, and the President knows this, 
that the check is not in the mail for 12 million children, 250,000 of 
them children of men and women on active duty.
  The good news for those children is that their parents work hard, 
care about them, and are the backbone of our country. The bad news is 
they do not make enough money to be considered worthy of this tax 
credit. I ask my Republican colleagues, why not raise the minimum wage 
if they do not think it is high enough to get a tax credit for these 
children? They say: Oh, no, we cannot do that.
  The good news is that these children are children of men and women on 
active duty serving their patriotic duty to our country. The bad news 
is that although we honor their service on this floor of the House on a 
regular basis, the service of our men and women in Iraq and 
Afghanistan, at the same time we dishonor them by saying their children 
are unworthy of receiving the tax credit because their pay does not 
count and is not high enough for them to get the tax credit.
  Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to our Republican 
colleague who must have drawn the short straw to come to the floor to 
defend the indefensible, cutting 12 million children out of the tax 
credit, when he said that these people who cannot help themselves, 
well, they want to help them. These people are helping themselves. They 
are helping themselves. They are helping their children. They are 
helping our country. They are entry level. They are people with 
aspirations. They are people with young families. They are the future 
of our country.
  The gentleman from Kentucky also said, well, for them we have the 
earned income tax credit. That should take care of them. Others have 
said in the course of these couple of weeks, and on TV and again this 
morning here, they do not pay taxes. My colleagues have pointed out 
very clearly that they do pay taxes. I ask anyone who looks at his or 
her paycheck whenever they get paid, do they not think paying a payroll 
tax is paying taxes? Or paying sales tax is paying taxes?
  The gentleman says, well, they get an earned income tax credit for 
that. Interesting to note, my colleagues, since we are having a quiet 
moment here this morning as Members come back to the Chamber after a 
very late night, the IRS has recently said that they are going to 
premonitor, premonitor, excuse me, I am using the wrong word, preaudit, 
preaudit families, low-income families who might wish to claim the 
earned income tax credit.
  I ask my colleagues to think of it. These are people who make the 
minimum wage. We have said that they will get an earned income tax 
credit, and that is appropriate. The IRS is now saying they are going 
to preaudit these poor families before they can make that claim for the 
earned income tax credit by just listing their income on their income 
tax and signing that this is what their income is.
  At the same time, they have a very, very low audit rate for wealthier 
individuals in our country. They have said on occasion that it is too 
difficult and too expensive to fight the lawyers of those with 
resources in our country, be they wealthy individuals or corporations. 
But instead, the IRS is using its resources to preaudit poor working 
families who may wish to claim the earned income tax credit. Just some 
issues of fairness that I thought it was important to note this 
morning.
  Mr. Speaker, this check which will go out to many families of 
children in America, and that is a good thing and we all support that, 
this check for the poor children, though, of working families is 
delayed. Delayed. Delayed.
  The President says he wants this tax credit for poor children. That 
is what the President said. That is what the President is saying on the 
road. The Senate has already passed the legislation and sent it to 
conference with the Republicans. It would take 1 minute for the 
conferees to meet, to accept the Senate language, put the bill on the 
President's desk, and remove this terrible embarrassment to the 
Republican Party. It is no wonder no Republican Members showed up on 
the floor today, leaving the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Lewis) to do 
all of this heavy lifting by himself, carrying this unfortunate defense 
of the indefensible.
  It has a nice ring to it. It is reminiscent. Delayed by whom? Delayed 
by DeLay. Delayed by DeLay. The child tax credit is delayed by DeLay.
  I think the American people should know that. And if the President is 
serious about wanting this tax credit for

[[Page H7629]]

all children in America, and I believe that he does, then I think he 
should use his influence, his moral suasion, his leadership with the 
Members of his own party to say let us end this embarrassment. Let us 
end this embarrassment. Let us eliminate the delay caused by DeLay.
  A couple of other thoughts that I wanted to convey to my colleagues 
this morning as we get back into the legislative mode after a very late 
night of debate and voting is that this delay for 12 million Americans 
takes place within the context of the past few weeks. As recently as 
yesterday, the Republicans strove to undermine, undermine Head Start. 
By one vote, this House passed a block grant program under Medicare 
that contained language that legalizes discrimination, but undermines 
Head Start, removing standards so important for lifting up children. 
And within the past couple of weeks, this body voted to underfund Leave 
No Child Behind by $9 billion, leaving millions of children behind.
  No tax credit if a child's parents do not make enough money, $9 
billion out of no Child Left Behind leaving millions of children 
behind. Undermining Head Start, removing the standards, turning it into 
a block grant, on its way to being unrecognizable. These, sadly, are 
the same children in many cases who are affected. The same children 
fall into the categories for education for disadvantaged children, 
children of parents making between $10,000 and $26,000 a year.
  Mr. Speaker, that is not disadvantage. That is entry level. But 
nonetheless they would qualify for some of those educational benefits 
in Leave No Child Behind. And of course these children would take 
advantage of Head Start.
  So this is all part of a pattern. I call it the trifecta against 
children that the Republicans have put forth. Actually, it is not my 
idea. The gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller) calls it the 
trifecta, that great champion for children in our country.
  So let us calm down after all the debates that we have had night 
after night that we have tried to make the case to the American people. 
This is almost like a Christmas carol or something where wealthier 
people are treated better than poor kids. And the children of America 
are in solidarity. They respect each other. They do not want other 
children not to have toys at Christmas and food to eat and a home to 
live in, the dignity of that kind of shelter.
  Children are sympathetic to each other. Why can we not, as a 
Congress, be sympathetic to all children? Because what we are doing 
here today by saying this to these children, as I said again the 
context of the Head Start legislation and the Leave No Child Behind 
legislation, and when these children and some of the older siblings of 
these children have a bigger struggle affording college and higher 
education because of what this Congress is doing to Pell grants, this 
is just not right.
  Mr. Speaker, this is America's future. This is America's future. And 
to every one of those children, how much better if we could say to 
them: you are important to us. As President Kennedy said, children are 
our greatest resource and our best hope for the future. He did not say 
children of those making over $26,000 are our greatest resource, and if 
their parents are even wealthier than that, our best hope for the 
future. He said all children are.
  So this is about aspirations. This is about the American Dream. This 
is about making the future better. And day by day, quickly and surely, 
the actions of this House, lead by the Republican Majority, are 
undermining those aspirations.
  It is not too late. It is not too late. We can accept the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) to instruct the 
conferees to agree to the Senate language. We can do it right now.
  End the delay. Have our conferees go to conference. Agree to the 
language. Put the bill on the President's desk. And would it not be a 
wonderful gift to him who has said, the President who has said over and 
over again that he wants this for America's children, all of America's 
children, that when he returns from his trip he can immediately sign 
the No Child Left Behind bill? In fact, they could probably get the 
bill to him on the road so that history will never show that on the 
same day that these checks were being received by some children, that 
other children were getting nothing. Were getting nothing.
  Mr. Speaker, with that I commend all who have worked so hard to make 
the case for America's children, for America's future. I thank the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) for her diligence, and all of 
our colleagues, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey), who I 
see on the floor has been so much a part of this fight. I could name 
practically every Member of the Democratic Caucus who has played a 
major and significant role in making the case on this floor, to the 
press, and across the country that fairness is a value that Americans 
hold dear and that we agree with President Kennedy that children are 
our greatest resource and our best hope for the future. All of 
America's children.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I think fairness really is the 
issue here. When I look at the child tax credit that is refundable to 
the extent of the taxpayer's earned income in excess of $10,500, plus 
the earned income tax credit, the earned income tax credit, here are 
some numbers that I think are interesting. There are 18 million 
families receiving earned income tax credits at a cost of $30 billion. 
$30 billion, 18 million families. I think those numbers need to be 
looked at.
  But here are the actual numbers. The head of a household with two 
children at $10,000 in wages would receive $4,010 in earned income tax 
credit; $15,000, a refundable child tax credit of $450; earned income 
tax credit of $3,823; $20,000, $565 child tax credit, an earned income 
tax credit of $2,770. We are helping those that need this help.
  And going back to the military, the House-passed bill does not deny 
the child credit to military families. Military families, including 
those who are deployed abroad, are already receiving a refundable child 
credit and will continue to receive a refundable child credit. Under 
the House-passed bill, the Democrat motion to commit would only 
increase the credit for some military families by allowing them to take 
into account tax-free income when they compute their refundable credit.
  Mr. Speaker, The House-passed bill provides more tax relief to 
military families because it includes $806 million of military tax 
benefits. These provisions have passed the House on numerous occasions 
and are awaiting action in the Senate.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the motion to 
instruct conferees.
  Mr. Speaker, it's a simple question: Will the Republican leadership 
permit Congress to pass tax relief for millions of working and military 
families before the August break?
  Unfortunately, we know the answer, and it is not good news for the 4 
million families with incomes between $10,000 and $26,000 who were left 
out of the original Republican tax cut plan. And it is not good news 
for the 262,000 children of military servicemen and women who currently 
serve or have served in Iraq or other combat zones because their combat 
pay actually reduces their tax credit.
  With the Republican party in control of the White House, the Senate 
and the House of Representatives, President Bush and the Republican 
leadership have the political power to pass tax relief for these 
families today. But do they have the political will?
  I think that question was answered by Speaker Hastert, when he was 
asked last Sunday if he and the Republican leadership would pass the 
child tax credit before leaving town. Speaker Hastert dismissed the 
question by saying that the families making between $10,000 and $26,000 
``don't pay taxes.''
  I hope the Speaker will talk to some of these families in his own 
district. If he does, they will be glad to inform him that even though 
they don't earn enough to pay income taxes, they pay plenty in Social 
Security payroll taxes, sales taxes, and--if they are fortunate enough 
to own a home--in property taxes.
  Mr. Speaker, we should pass the child care tax credit bill today and 
give working and military families the tax relief they deserve. As I 
said at the outset, it's really a very simple question: Will the 
Republican leadership permit Congress to pass tax relief for millions 
of working and military families before we break or will they continue 
to look the other way and go home?
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is 
ordered on the motion.

[[Page H7630]]

  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to instruct 
offered by the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis).
  The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that 
the noes appeared to have it.
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion are postponed.

                          ____________________