[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 3026]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                        THE PRESIDENT'S TAX CUT

  (Mr. TURNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, the President's recently submitted general 
budget outline leaves a lot of questions remaining about his tax cut 
plan. Frankly, it appears that trying to fit his tax cut into a 
realistic budget is like trying to fit a size 11 foot into a size 6 
shoe.
  The American people understand there is no surplus today and that 
forecasting the surplus for the next 10 years is a lot like making a 
10-year weather forecast. We do not want oversized tax cuts to take us 
back to the choice of deficit spending or higher taxes for our 
children. Now the leadership in the House wants us to take a vote on a 
major tax cut before the House has even adopted, or even debated, a 
budget.
  Tax cuts are an important priority, but equally important is paying 
down our $5.6 trillion national debt, saving Social Security and 
Medicare for the future baby boomer retirement, and strengthening 
education and national defense.
  Blue Dog Democrats have come to the floor this morning to say we are 
for the largest tax cut we can afford, and to know what we can afford 
we need a budget first.

                          ____________________