[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14251]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   THE IRONY OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bell) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about the irony of No 
Child Left Behind, a very popular phrase here in our Nation's Capitol. 
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle tout No Child Left Behind 
when in actuality they deliberately choose to leave millions of 
children behind.
  President Bush signed a new law that would provide tax cuts of 
$93,500 to the 200,000 taxpayers making over $1 million. Let us go over 
that again: $93,500 in tax cuts to the 200,000 taxpayers making over $1 
million. However, 53 percent of all taxpayers will get less than $100 
under the GOP tax cut, just another example of the administration 
choosing the wealthiest over America's working families. But as they 
used to say on the old television commercials, but wait, there is more. 
What is even more egregious in this particular case is that the 
administration chose not to provide or increase the child tax credit to 
working families making between $10,500 to $26,625 per year. That is 
right. If they make $10,500 to $26,625 per year, they miss out on the 
child tax credit.
  Mr. Speaker, Republicans in the other body dropped a provision added 
by Senator Lincoln that would help nearly 12 million children and their 
families get such a tax credit. Out of that 12 million, a staggering 8 
million received no child tax credit under the GOP law. Mr. Speaker, 
the Republican plan in no way, shape, or form protects the children 
that need it the most. Instead, the plan deliberately excludes these 
children. In actuality, the Republican plan should be called the ``Plan 
to Leave Children Behind.''
  This is why I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2286, the Rangel-
Davis-DeLauro bill. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this bill. It is a 
great start to preparing the damage inflicted by the administration's 
reckless and negligent tax package. H.R. 2286 would restore the child 
tax credit to families making minimum wage by providing greater tax 
relief to working families. Nineteen million children and their 
families would benefit from this bill. In fact, over 2 million children 
in my home State of Texas would benefit under the Rangel plan.
  In addition to the child tax credit, H.R. 2286 would create more 
jobs. The provisions in this bill are key elements to the House Jobs 
and Economic Growth package and would create more than 1 million jobs 
without adding one penny to the deficit, welcome relief in a State like 
Texas where we are looking at our highest unemployment in 10 years, 
reaching close to 7 percent. Lastly, this bill has key elements that 
would ensure our brave men and women in uniform are not denied tax 
relief just because they are on active duty.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2286. This tax plan 
is fair. It helps America's economy, America's men and women in 
uniform, and it helps America's working families. Most importantly, it 
allows us to not just talk about it, but it allows us to actually leave 
no child behind.

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