[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 688-689]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      NEED FOR A STIMULUS PACKAGE

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Mr. President, so many of us wanted a stimulus 
package. The President asked for a stimulus package. We see the stock 
market continuing to go up and down, up and down. It certainly has not 
stabilized yet. We wanted to try to stimulate investment to try to make 
sure we would have an economy that would be able to remain strong as we 
are prosecuting a war for the very freedom of future generations in our 
country. But what we had before us was not a stimulus package. It was 
the end of a compromise without the compromise part.
  There was no tax cut. There was no help for people who pay taxes. 
There was no stimulation for businesses that would invest in plant and 
equipment. And that is what we need to make sure we have those 
manufacturing jobs.
  What I had hoped to do--and I had already filed the amendment--was to 
make permanent some of the tax cuts that are temporary over the next 10 
years. I wanted to make permanent the marriage penalty relief that is 
in the tax bill that Congress has already passed and the President has 
signed but which could teeter in the next few years if we have a change 
in Congress.
  Why should anyone have to pay a penalty because they get married? Why 
should they pay a different rate in a higher tax bracket when they get 
married as opposed to when they were single?
  We are trying to correct the marriage penalty. Making marriage 
penalty relief permanent so people can count on it would be a stimulus.
  Repeal of the death tax is one of the most important things Congress 
has done. Congress has finally acknowledged money that has been taxed 
when it was earned, taxed when it was invested, should not then be 
taxed when it is passed to future generations. What the death tax does 
is keep family-owned farms and ranches and small businesses from being 
passed to members of the family. Fifty percent of the family-owned 
businesses in this country do not make it to the second generation; 80 
percent do not make it to the third generation. Who benefits from that? 
Certainly not the members of a family who have worked to create a 
business to give their children a chance.
  What about the employees who work for that family business. When it 
changes hands, their livelihoods then are at stake. So who is it good 
for? It does not even help the Federal Government because the income is 
minuscule and would be totally overcoming to a thriving business with 
jobs that are stable that can contribute to our economy.
  So we wanted to make repeal of the death tax permanent. We wanted to 
make repeal of the marriage penalty permanent. That was what we were 
trying to do to this bill. But now the bill is going to be pulled from 
the floor before we can offer these amendments.
  I do not think that is sound economics. I do not think that is good 
for our country, and it certainly is not going to stabilize our 
economy.

[[Page 689]]

  So when you talk about people being disappointed, I think all of us 
are disappointed that we are not going to have a chance to offer our 
amendments. We had all day yesterday to offer our amendments, but we 
were held from offering the amendments and having votes. That is just 
not right.
  We adopted an amendment offered by my fellow Senator from Missouri, 
Mr. Bond, that would have helped small businesses. It would have been a 
huge help. It would have given them a $40,000 writeoff for investment 
in equipment. For small business that is huge. Otherwise, they would 
have had to depreciate it. Instead, they would have a writeoff that 
would have encouraged small businesses to make those capital 
investments that create jobs in America.
  So we are missing a major opportunity. I will call on Senator Daschle 
to reconsider, after the cloture vote--which, hopefully, will fail 
because we have not been able to offer our amendments yet. We do not 
want to pass the bill that is before us because there is no stimulation 
in it. I ask the majority leader to reconsider because we would like to 
have a stimulus package that makes permanent the marriage penalty 
relief, that makes permanent the death tax repeal so businesses and 
family farms can be passed through the generations without being taxed 
by the Federal Government and made to sell assets at bargain basement 
prices and take away jobs from people who work on those farms and take 
away the ability of the children in a family to continue to make their 
livelihoods from that family farm. It would take away the opportunity 
to give small business a boost by giving them a writeoff of $40,000 
over a 2-year period for capital investment.
  I urge the majority leader to reconsider. Let's work with the 
President. Let's work with the Democrats and Republicans in Congress. 
Let's have a stimulus package that really stimulates.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Texas.

                          ____________________