[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 25879]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



            GOVERNOR BUSH MISSES MARK ON COUNTRY PROSPERITY

  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, in a few days a great fiscal debate will be 
decided by the people of this country. Before they make that decision, 
we need to focus on some of the statements of the Governor of Texas as 
he tells us about his fiscal plan.
  Mr. Speaker, we are told by the Governor of Texas that every American 
who pays taxes deserves tax relief and will get tax relief under his 
plan. The facts are clearly otherwise and the Governor of Texas knows 
better. He knows that under his plan some 15 million Americans who pay 
FICA tax and have it taken from their wages every day are going to get 
not a penny of tax relief while at the same time the Governor of Texas 
will provide nearly half his total tax relief package to those who 
already are in the best-off 1 percent of American families. Not one 
penny for those taxpayers who work in nursing homes, who clean our 
buildings and who wash our cars; yet hundreds of billions of dollars 
for the wealthiest 1 percent.
  We are told, also, by the Governor of Texas, and I think he does this 
for political reasons, that policy here in Washington is not in any way 
responsible for our current prosperity. Now, I can understand why his 
consultants, his political consultants, would tell him to try to argue 
to the American people that the last 8 years of the Clinton-Gore 
administration is just a coincidence with our 8 years of economic 
prosperity. But in doing so, he lays the foundation for very dangerous 
policies. You see, Mr. Speaker, if fiscal responsibility here in 
Washington did not lead to prosperity in the country, then we are free 
here in Washington to be as fiscally irresponsible as we like without 
eliminating or curtailing that prosperity.
  The fact is that while the lion's share of the credit goes to the 
hard-working American people and their ingenuity and their dedication, 
they were working hard and they were showing ingenuity back in the late 
1980s and early 1990s, and this country was not prosperous because we 
did not have the fiscal responsibility brought to this town by the 
Clinton-Gore administration.
  When the Governor of Texas tells us that what government does does 
not matter, then he lays the foundation for the fiscally irresponsible 
tax cuts that we cannot afford.
  Finally, the Governor of Texas claims that he will provide over 10 
years only $223 billion of tax relief to the wealthiest 1 percent of 
Americans. He reaches this through what can only be called false fiscal 
facts and fuzzy figures. He does this by ignoring his promise, often 
repeated, to repeal the estate tax. When he repeals the estate tax, 
which he has promised to do, then the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans 
will receive over $700 billion every decade in tax relief. The effect 
then is to provide nearly half the tax relief to the wealthiest 1 
percent and to provide them with more tax relief than the total the 
Governor of Texas would have us spend on health care, shoring up 
Medicare, providing a greater level of readiness for our military 
forces, and improving our educational system. More for 1 percent than 
for those four top national priorities.
  Mr. Speaker, the choice before America is clear. On the one hand, we 
can improve our schools, strengthen our military, provide a 
prescription drug benefit under Medicare, safeguard Social Security, 
pay off the national debt, and provide for continued prosperity; or on 
the other hand, we can opt for nearly $700 billion, probably over $700 
billion just for the wealthiest 1 percent. I know that we have got to 
make a responsible decision. I hope when we do so, we recognize that 
choosing a President is not a popularity contest. It is, rather, 
choosing a plan by which the economy of this country will be managed 
over the next 4 years.

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