[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 515-516]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     STAY THE COURSE ON TAX RELIEF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus) is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page 516]]


  Mr. BACHUS. Mr. Speaker, when Congress makes a commitment to give 
Americans tax relief, it should honor that commitment. To put it 
plainly, Americans should get the tax cuts that they have been 
promised. Americans should have the tax relief that they desperately 
need.
  Passage of President Bush's tax cut late last year was a historic 
bipartisan achievement. Only three times since World War II have we had 
an across-the-board tax cut: President Kennedy's tax cut in the 1960s, 
President Reagan's tax cut in the 1980s, and now President George W. 
Bush's tax cut. But now some want to break the agreement.
  Some argue that we should repeal or delay the tax cuts. The gentleman 
from Illinois who addressed the House a few minutes ago and I believe 
that this is a debate worthy of having. If Members of Congress truly 
believe we should raise taxes, our resolution gives them an opportunity 
to record their votes in favor of a tax increase. Our resolution 
states, the tax cuts should not be repealed or delayed. If they want to 
raise taxes, they need to vote against the resolution offered by the 
gentleman from Illinois and me. Every American deserves to know where 
their Representative and Senators stand on this important issue.
  Some in Congress, Mr. Speaker, lately have tried to maneuver and 
scheme for political advantage by blaming the President's tax relief 
package for the deficit and recession. They are not telling the truth. 
These tax supporters try to sell the myth that we must increase taxes 
just 6 months after we promised Americans they would start receiving 
their rebate income tax checks in the mail. The ink on the new tax 
relief package has barely dried. Now they want to repeal it or, as they 
say, delay or postpone it. They said the same thing about the economic 
stimulus package: let's take a long look. Let's delay it a week. Let's 
postpone it a month. Today they killed it, which really killed the 
chances that many of my constituents and their companies have to 
rebound from this recession.
  As the chart I prepared shows, economic conditions account for 72 
percent of projected 2002 deficits. Spending accounts for 16 percent. 
Tax relief only contributed 12 percent. Yet there is a growing cry to 
delay or postpone, we know in Washington that means kill, the tax cuts.
  We have got to revitalize our economy. Tax cuts spur economic growth 
and create jobs. The bottom line for President Bush and this Congress 
ought to be jobs, preserving jobs and creating good jobs. Senate 
inaction on the economic stimulus plan cost us 800,000 jobs. The House 
passed a stimulus many months ago; but it is not only stuck in the 
Senate, it is dead in the Senate today. Now these same obstructionists 
want to repeal the tax cuts we have passed last year.
  Our resolution reaffirms that promise to the American people. It 
reaffirms the tax relief. It reaffirms the tax cuts. We cut taxes 
because it is the right thing to do, it is the fair thing to do, it is 
the compassionate thing to do for families struggling from paycheck to 
paycheck.
  In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, as the gentleman from Illinois has so 
adequately said, our choice is simple. Do we leave the money in the 
pockets of the American workers and families, or do we bring it up here 
and spend it as we see fit?

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