[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[House]
[Pages 22544-22545]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



         AMERICANS DESERVE A BREAK WHEN IT COMES TO TAX RELIEF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ehrlich) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. EHRLICH. Mr. Speaker, the typical American family pays 38 percent 
of its income in taxes, more than it spends on food, clothing and 
shelter combined. We are taxed when we save for school, taxed when we 
get married, even taxed when we die. Mr. Speaker, it is about time the 
American family got a break. That is why this Congress passed 
comprehensive tax relief that includes the most meaningful tax relief 
passed in a generation.
  The strongest evidence of all that Americans are paying too much is 
the size of the budget surplus. Conservatively projected at $2.9 
trillion over the next 10 years, this surplus was earned by taxpayers. 
They are the ones who deserve to reap the benefits of their labors. The 
Republican tax relief package returned only a portion of that money to 
taxpayers, despite all that spin from this floor and the administration 
to the contrary.
  Specifically, Mr. Speaker, our proposal returns 27 cents on each 
dollar of surplus over the next decade. The remainder we locked away to 
be used for protecting Social Security, strengthening Medicare, and 
paying off the national debt. Our tax relief package benefits all 
Americans, married couples, senior citizens, working families, the 
self-employed, public schools, and distressed neighborhoods.
  We provide tax relief for married couples. One of the most unfair 
provisions in our present Tax Code requires married couples to pay more 
in taxes simply because they are married. Our plan eases this unfair 
penalty to the benefit of 42 million taxpayers.
  We provide tax relief for education. Our plan helps parents and 
students facing educational expenses by raising the ceiling on 
education savings accounts and permitting their use for K through 12 
costs, and changing bond rules to assist local school construction 
issues.
  We provide tax relief for retirement. Our plan helps American workers 
gain access to a pension plan and enjoy greater retirement security by 
increasing limits to 401(k) plans and other retirement options, 
increasing portability of pensions, and simplifying pension rules.
  We provide tax relief for medical expenses. Our plan makes health 
care and

[[Page 22545]]

long-term care more affordable and accessible for all Americans. It 
allows a 100 percent deduction for health insurance premiums and long-
term care insurance premiums, and provides an additional personal 
exemption for financial hardships associated with caring for elderly 
family members at home.
  We provide tax relief for survivors. Our plan gradually eliminates 
the hated death tax, the Federal estate tax, a monstrous tax bite that 
has shut down far too many family farms, ranches and small businesses. 
And we provide tax relief to create jobs and growth.
  Finally, our plan also promotes investment, risk-taking, and job 
creation. We provide pro-growth incentives to help attract business and 
create jobs in at-risk communities, and stimulate growth and investment 
by providing capital gains tax relief.
  Let us compare the Republican plan with the Democrat alternative, 
which would have raised taxes by $4 billion. That plan was defeated by 
this House 173 to 258. The minority leadership apparently does not 
believe American taxpayers deserve to get back at least some of their 
hard-earned dollars, nor apparently does the present Clinton-Gore 
administration.
  The President has vetoed the tax bill. He is not committed to cutting 
taxes, saving Social Security, strengthening Medicare and paying off 
the public debt. If he were, he would realize that our plan devotes $2 
of every $3 to the tax surplus specifically for those purposes.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, our logic is clear and simple. If we fail to 
give a portion of the budget surplus back to where it belongs, to the 
hard-working American taxpayers, Washington will spend every dime of it 
and more. Everybody knows it. That is the way this town operates. 
Always has been, always will be.
  On the other hand, I am always happy to cast my vote for putting more 
money in the hands of the people who earned it, the American taxpayer, 
not in the hands of Washington big spenders.

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