[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1635]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               STRENGTHENING SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Madam Speaker, the Republicans are beginning the 106th 
Congress exactly where they left off in the 105th, and that is ignoring 
the will of the majority of the Americans.
  If you recall, the Republican leadership in the House ended the 105th 
Congress by approving an $80 billion tax break for the wealthiest 
Americans financed by raiding the Social Security surplus. As a result, 
the Democrats picked up 5 seats in the November election.
  But, believe it or not, the Republicans are still not listening. 
Instead of directing the surplus to Social Security and Medicare, the 
Republicans are proposing a 10 percent tax cut which will do virtually 
nothing for 45 million American families. Under the Republican plan, 
the average annual tax cut for 60 percent of tax payers would be about 
$100. Those earning more than $300,000 though would receive an average 
tax cut of $20,000.
  I urge my Republican colleagues to listen to the American people. 
Read the writing on the wall and stop wasting time with a recycled plan 
to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy with money that should be used to 
strengthen Social Security and Medicare.

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