[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9934]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



    CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 1836, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TAX RELIEF 
                       RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. BOB ETHERIDGE

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 25, 2001

  Mr. ETHERIDGE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to the 
Republican tax bill. Unfortunately, this bill is a missed opportunity, 
and it represents misplaced priorities.
  Sadly Mr. Speaker, this bill is very much a missed opportunity. The 
White House and the Republican Leadership have utterly failed to 
deliver on the President's promise of a bipartisan process that puts 
accomplishment for the American people above gamesmanship by Washington 
politicians.
  More importantly, this bill falls to provide for America's 
priorities. We must pay down the national debt to remove that burden 
from our children and grandchildren and cut interest rates for items 
like cars and homes. This Republican tax package will return us to the 
days of big deficits, high interest rates, high unemployment and a 
struggling economy.
  I support and have voted for balanced tax relief as part of a 
comprehensive economic plan that will restore America's prosperity so 
that all of our hard working families can have security in their family 
finances. We must pass a strong economic plan, not a risky gamble with 
our nation's economic strength.
  The Republican bill mortgages the future based on a guess. If the 
projected surpluses fall to materialize, Social Security and Medicare 
will be on the chopping block. The American people know that the budget 
projections are not real. They are an estimate. It is irresponsible to 
make decisions that will directly impact people's lives based on a ten-
year number we know is no more reliable than a ten-year hurricane 
forecast.
  This bill is a cynical maneuver for short-term political gain. I 
support and have voted for exempting virtually all North Carolina 
families from the estate tax, but this bill sunsets in 2010 which would 
reinstate the estate tax. I support immediate relief from the marriage 
penalty, but this bill will hurt families by driving up interest rates 
on homes, cars, and credit cards.
  As the only former state schools chief serving in Congress, I was 
very pleased by the President's promise to improve education. But this 
bill saps the resources we need to strengthen our schools for the 21st 
Century. The bill does nothing to help states build schools to relieve 
overcrowding and get our students out of trailers even though we have 
strong, bipartisan support for tax legislation to accomplish that 
priority. And the spending cuts that this bill requires will threaten 
child care, Head Start, job training and college aid that are vitally 
important to allow people to make the most of their God-given 
abilities.
  Mr. Speaker, a great deal of attention has been paid lately to the 
trouble on Wall Street and signs the economic boom may well be over. 
One sector that hasn't been booming for some time is agriculture, and 
farmers in my district have been hurting in the face of production 
cuts, commodity price losses and natural disasters. I was appalled when 
the Budget Committee passed its budget that would gut important farm 
programs to finance this tax bill. If approved, these cuts would 
eliminate funds to identify solutions to the state's hog waste problems 
and force dozens of our Farm Service Agency offices to close their 
doors. These agriculture cuts are wrong, and I will fight to restore 
them despite the expected passage of this Republican tax bill.
  Mr. Speaker, we can have responsible tax relief balanced with sound 
investments in our nation's future, but this tax bill is a missed 
opportunity. I urge my colleagues to vote down this bill and come 
together to pass a responsible tax cut that honors America's values and 
respects the people's priorities.

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