[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 17]
[House]
[Pages 25448-25449]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      GOVERNOR BUSH'S TAX PROPOSAL

  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, our economic prosperity is fragile and the 
political reasons, the political rhetoric out there in the country 
threatens to put that prosperity at risk. The Governor of Texas has 
mocked the importance of fiscal responsibility. It is in his political 
interest to tell the country that decisions made in Washington over the 
last 8 years have nothing to do with the economic prosperity that we 
have enjoyed over the last 8 years. Not only is he wrong but his 
statements lay the foundation for some very, very dangerous economic 
policies.
  The Governor of Texas is correct that the lion's share of credit for 
our economic prosperity goes to American workers whose ingenuity, whose 
hard work, whose inventiveness are unparalleled; but for political 
gain, he denies that there is another essential element and that is 
fiscal responsibility here in Washington. When he denies that the 
Federal Government has anything to do with how our economy performs, he 
grants us here in Washington a license to be fiscally irresponsible, 
because if Government really has nothing to do with the prosperity over 
the last 8 years, then the Government is free to do whatever we want it 
to do without putting that prosperity at risk.
  The facts are otherwise. During the mid-1980s, during the late 1980s, 
during the early 1990s, Americans were hard working. They showed 
ingenuity, did everything possible to give us prosperity and yet the 
country was not prosperous, and this is because we did not have fiscal 
responsibility here in Washington. Now for 8 years, the Clinton-Gore 
administration has insisted that we have fiscally responsible budgets; 
and prosperity has returned to this country. If we are told that those 
budgets have nothing to do with our prosperity, that lays the 
foundation for the kinds of huge $2.6 trillion tax cuts that this 
country cannot afford, with the result that Government borrowing will 
swallow up private savings, returning us to high interest rates and 
recession.
  The second aspect of the Governor's remarks that are clearly false is 
when he says that under his plan every American who pays taxes will get 
tax relief. He forgets that 15 million Americans pay FICA tax and do 
not pay any income tax and for these people, the people who clean up 
for us in restaurants, the people who take care of our old people in 
senior citizens' homes and nursing homes, people struggling to get by 
an $15,000 and $18,000 a year, he gives not one penny of tax relief 
because he is providing over 43 percent of the tax relief to the 
richest 1 percent of Americans; nothing for the janitors, everything 
for the billionaires. He ought to at least be honest enough to tell the 
country that that is what his tax policy provides.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, when the Governor of Texas tells us that his 
plan will provide only $223 billion of tax relief to the richest 1 
percent over the next 10 years, he ignores everything he

[[Page 25449]]

is doing with the estate tax. He tells the country he is going to 
repeal the estate tax but never includes the fiscal effect of that 
repeal in his description of his overall tax and budget policies.
  I can only refer to this as fuzzy fiscal figures and false fiscal 
facts. The fact is that the estate tax will be generating $50 billion a 
year. That is $500 billion over 10 years, which means under the 
Governor's proposal, the richest 1 percent of Americans will save over 
$700 billion a year under the Governor's proposal. He admits to only 
$223 billion. He ignores the other $500 billion.
  That is why it is true when it is stated that the proposals of the 
Governor of Texas would provide more relief to the richest 1 percent of 
Americans than he proposes to spend to improve our health care system, 
strengthen Medicare, strengthen the military, and improve education 
combined.
  Mr. Speaker, our choice is clear. On the one hand, we can have fiscal 
responsibility, economic expansion, reduction and eventual elimination 
of our national debt and moderate tax cuts for working families, all 
combined with investments in education, Medicare, military preparedness 
and health care, or we can provide $700 billion to the wealthiest 1 
percent of Americans.

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