[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9883]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 9883]]

                                TAX CUTS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, last week Congress passed the biggest tax 
relief package since the start of the Reagan administration. Every 
American taxpayer is going to get a refund check in the mail this 
summer. Over the coming years, rates will decline, the death tax will 
be repealed, the marriage tax penalty will be partially fixed, we will 
be able to put more in our retirement plans, and be able to deduct more 
for the cost of college education. This is real help for real 
Americans.
  But the American taxpayers deserve to know that there were a lot of 
big-spending liberals who thought they did not deserve these tax cuts. 
Even though we have been running multi-billion dollar surpluses for 
several years, some people in Washington did everything they could to 
stop this tax relief. In fact, the only way to get it done at all was 
to use what we call ``budget reconciliation,'' which cannot be 
filibustered in the other body and requires only 51 votes since they 
could not get to 60.
  But budget reconciliation only lasts for 10 years. Before the 10 
years is up, Congress must extend the tax relief. I hope that Congress 
will do that. In the meantime, I hope all the big spenders in Congress 
who voted against this cut will donate their $300 refund check back to 
the Treasury.

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WE NEED THE PRESIDENT'S VISION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, NOT JUST A VISIT TO 
                         ANOTHER NATIONAL PARK

  (Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Madam Speaker, Americans of all 
political stripes place a very high value on the protection of our 
environment and public lands.
  President Bush recently visited the Everglades National Park in 
Florida, and previous to that he visited Sequoia National Park in 
California. These photo opportunities are intended to portray an image 
of a President who cares about the environment. But these Presidential 
visits are inadequate; and they are also inaccurate because, while the 
President visits two of our most treasured parks, he and his 
administration are planning to throw open the door of the public lands 
of this Nation to increased drilling, mining, logging, road building 
and contamination of these very public lands.
  Madam Speaker, these public lands are every bit as important as the 
national parks that the President has visited. His administration 
continues to threaten the very stewardship of those public lands and 
opportunities for American citizens to enjoy them not only throughout 
the summer months but year around. His administration continues to 
threaten the Sierra Nevada Conservation Plan, which is about the 
integrity and the survival of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the 
forest in those mountains in California.
  Madam Speaker, the President refuses to move forward on the Giant 
Sequoia National Monument proposal.
  Mr. President, what we need is your vision for the environment, not 
just another visit.

                          ____________________