[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 4, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S4839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BUNNING (for himself and Mr. Miller):
  S. 2376. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal 
the scheduled restrictions in the child tax credit, marriage penalty 
relief, and 10 percent rate bracket, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce The Working 
Family Tax Relief Act of 2004. I would like to thank my colleague, 
Senator Miller, for his support of this important legislation. His 
leadership has laid the foundation of bipartisan support that this 
critical tax bill and working American families deserve.
  Tax relief has contributed to economic growth throughout our economy. 
We have successfully encouraged companies to create more jobs and 
Americans to save and spend more. The President's tax cuts and our 
votes here in the Senate helped to revive an economy that was sagging 
in 2000 and shocked by the tragedies of September 11, 2001.
  We put a plan in place in 2001 to help the American family to keep 
more of the money they work so hard to earn. In 2003, Congress saw fit 
to accelerate the effective date of some of this family tax relief in 
order to give these families this help as quickly as possible. As a 
result, every American family who paid any income taxes during 2003 saw 
a reduction in their taxes and they will enjoy those lower taxes for 
this year as well. However, if we do not act this year, America's 
working families will face a tax increase next year. We cannot allow 
this to happen.
  The lowest-income Americans have benefited dramatically from the new 
10 percent tax bracket. Today, thanks to this new bracket, working 
Americans are keeping more of their hard-earned paychecks. But if we do 
nothing, taxpayers with as little as $7,000 in taxable income could 
face a tax increase next year. My legislation proposes to keep the 
current 10 percent tax rate bracket in place rather than allowing it to 
shrink and increase taxes on the working families of America. This 
extension could bring relief to as many as 1.2 million people in 
Kentucky and millions of others throughout the country.
  And, if we do nothing, the child tax credit will be cut by 30 percent 
in 2005. We need to keep the $1,000 tax credit and not let it revert to 
the old $700 credit. There are over 350,000 taxpayers in Kentucky who 
need this tax relief and will benefit from this legislation. We can't 
ask millions of Americans to pay an extra $300 per child next year. 
Will you ask the families of this country, who have worked so hard to 
raise our entire economy up, to pay more in taxes simply because they 
have children? I know I won't, and I hope my colleagues won't either.
  The accelerated marriage penalty relief will also lapse after this 
year unless the Senate acts. I propose keeping the current tax 
deduction in place, which we increased to twice that of an individual 
taxpayer in 2003. Without this extension, married couples will see a 
cut in their standardized deduction--actually penalizing couples for 
being married. Over 465,000 Kentuckians benefits from this legislation. 
We need to keep this important tax relief intact.

  And finally we need to address an unintended consequence of the 
Alternative Minimum Tax. When the Senate passed the AMT, it was 
designed to ensure wealthier Americans paid at least some percentage of 
their income in taxes. Now that same AMT is hurting working families 
and middle-income America. In 2003, the Senate passed limited AMT 
relief that is now set to expire. This legislation will keep the 
current exemption levels of $40,250 for single and $58,000 for married 
taxpayers in place for 2005. If we fail to act, an additional $7,000 to 
$13,000 of middle-income taxpayers' income will be subject to this tax. 
We all know that the AMT is a serious issue and one that we must 
address--the limited relief contained in this bill is not a final 
solution to this large problem, but it will keep the problem from 
getting even worse.
  There are other important tax cuts that should be extended and there 
are other problems with the tax code that I would like to correct. But 
the four provisions addressed in this bill have to be addressed today 
not just to provide tax relief, but to prevent an immediate tax 
increase. We owe it to the working families and low-income Americans 
who rely on these tax cuts to act quickly and extend these four 
provisions--the 10 percent tax bracket, child tax credit, marriage 
penalty relief and AMT relief. Working American families and lower to 
middle-income America were hit hard with the economic downturn--that is 
why we passed these tax cuts in the first place. And now, just as these 
industrious Americans have started to find new jobs and spend a little 
more money to grow the economy, we cannot hold them back with a tax 
increase.
  And I can't stress this point enough. Many Americans--especially low 
and middle income families--will have their tax rates increased and 
face cuts in their deductions and credits unless we act. My bill is 
about extending the important tax breaks that we all agreed to in 2001 
and accelerated in 2003. We made a commitment to the American family in 
the midst of an economic downturn--offering them tax relief to help 
stimulate the economy. And now that these tax cuts are starting to 
work, we can't afford to take them back. We must stay the course and 
support our Nation's families as we move the American economy forward 
toward renewed prosperity.
  I know how tight government finances are likely to be this year. And 
as my colleagues know, I have always taken a hard look at spending 
proposals. But we built about $80 billion into the Senate-passed FY 
2005 Budget proposal for these tax provisions. And there are similar 
provisions in the House-approved budget. I am confident that we can 
secure the amount we will need for this proposal over the next few 
years.
  We find ourselves in a unique position--we must be proactive to 
protect the American family from an unjust tax increase. We need to 
take a stand for low and middle income America. This Bunning-Miller tax 
relief legislation will protect working Americans from what would be a 
devastating tax increase in 2005. I urge my colleagues to get behind 
this bipartisan legislation and support the Working Family Tax Relief 
Act of 2004.
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