[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 22410]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                                TAXATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. 
Blumenauer).
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the courtesy of the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman). I am sorry, but I thought the 
Chair would notify me when the time had expired. I apologize.
  Mr. Speaker, the Vice President has sometimes been accused of being 
sort of robotic and wooden. In fact, he has joked about it himself. But 
there is one thing that that man is passionate about. It is the 
environment. When I look at the dismal record in the State of Texas 
with the air quality deteriorating, I look for the passion and the 
commitment from the governor of that State, but I do not see it. I 
think there is a huge difference between the two, and I hope that the 
American public will have the opportunity in the remaining 3\1/2\ weeks 
to focus on this.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to address yesterday's debate 
and focus on taxation. Why such a dry topic as taxation? After all, one 
of the candidates seems like a much nicer, more likeable guy. Why do we 
not just make him President by acclamation? Well, it seems that running 
the Federal Government is a little bit more complicated than just being 
a nice and congenial individual.
  First, let us talk about the cause for our prosperity. We have the 
longest expansion in this country's history. It has lasted so long some 
people take it for granted, but we should not because it arises from 
the combination of two very important causes; one of which is the 
ingenuity, the hard work and the inventiveness of the American people 
working in the private sector. But let us remember, Americans worked 
hard in the early 1980s, the late 1980s, and the early 1990s; but not 
until the mid-1990s did our prosperity begin to bear fruit.
  Why is that? Because only then was it combined with the other 
essential element: Federal fiscal responsibility. Responsibility at the 
Federal level is something this administration achieved when most of us 
thought it was impossible, and in doing so they have given us lower 
interest rates, available capital for the private sector, and a lower 
inflation rate.
  The governor of Texas would have us put this all at risk for $1.5 
trillion of tax cuts, nearly half of which goes to the richest 1 
percent of Americans; plus another $1 trillion in unstated costs as the 
cost of shifting from our present Social Security system to this new 
Social Security system he promises with individual accounts funded by a 
trillion dollars that no one mentions.
  Let us talk about taxes. There are basically three taxes that support 
the Federal Government: the estate tax, which falls chiefly on the 
richest 1.5 percent of Americans; the income tax which is paid by 
everyone except the poor; and the FICA tax, the payroll tax that is 
borne by the poor and the middle class and has only a tiny effect on 
the rich.
  The governor said last night, I believe everyone who pays taxes ought 
to get relief; but what he did not mention was that there are over 15 
million Americans who pay that FICA tax, that payroll tax, and do not 
pay an income tax and do not get a penny of relief under his program. 
There are, in fact, 30 million Americans who pay a FICA tax with no net 
income tax liability, and over half of them, 15 million Americans, pay 
a net FICA tax even adjusted for the earned income tax credit which 
they receive; 15 million Americans that the governor from Texas cannot 
see apparently because they are poor. They are the janitors; they are 
the men and women who pick up at restaurants; they are people working 
hard every day to support families on incomes of $10,000 or $15,000 and 
they do not get a penny. But 43 percent of George Bush's tax benefits 
go to the top 1 percent of Americans; and that is more than he spends 
on health, Medicare, education and the military.
  Last night, Governor Bush told us that only $223 billion goes to the 
richest 1 percent. He is right, if we only look at the income tax. But 
if we look at the estate tax, we see another $500 billion going to the 
wealthiest 1 to 1\1/2\ percent of Americans. So we look at the estate 
tax and the income tax combined and we see roughly $700 billion going 
to the wealthiest Americans.
  But Mr. Bush cannot see half a trillion dollars in tax reduction, 
cannot notice it and denies that it exists because, after all, it is 
estate tax relief for the very wealthiest Americans. He cannot see 15 
million poor Americans. He cannot see half a trillion dollars going to 
the wealthy. I think we could only describe this as fuzzy fiscal facts; 
and we need instead, as our President, someone who will provide tax 
relief to working Americans and preserve our fiscal responsibility.

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