[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16212]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



           REPUBLICAN TAX CUT PLAN IS FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE

  (Mr. MENENDEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. Speaker, the Republican tax cut plan of a trillion 
dollars is fiscally irresponsible and will leave a legacy of debt and 
deficit for the next generation of taxpayers, and that is why they only 
show us charts for the first 5 years of their tax cut plan. They do not 
show us the last 5 years where the tax cuts will explode and leave us 
with an enormous gap in the budget.
  Their tax cut plan will create higher deficits and, therefore, create 
higher interest rates for American families and businesses.
  That is not a value we Democrats share. Democrats believe that we 
have to pay down the national debt, and Republicans want a massive tax 
cut. Democrats value the contribution of seniors who have helped build 
families and community and who should be able to retire with dignity 
and health security. That is why we want to pay the debt, extend the 
life for Social Security and Medicare.
  Republicans want to go on a wild tax cut spree that leaves nothing 
for Medicare, nothing for Social Security, and nothing for our 
prescription drug program. That is fiscal irresponsibility we cannot 
have. It is a value we do not share.

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