[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2624]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            MIDDLE-CLASS TAX INCREASE IS THE WRONG APPROACH

  (Mr. SIRES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SIRES. Madam Speaker, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike 
Leavitt is about to begin a 100-day public relations effort to build 
support for the President's health care proposal. Democrats here in 
Washington in Congress want to work towards reducing the number of 
uninsured. Unfortunately, the tax deduction proposal will do very 
little to assist the 47 million Americans who are now living without 
health insurance.
  The President touts his plan as a way to give low-income uninsured 
Americans more money in their pockets to help them buy their own health 
insurance. It sounds good, but the President ignores two facts.
  First, the President's plan does not provide enough of a benefit for 
low-income Americans. A tax deduction is of little value to low-income 
workers, who in many cases will receive little more than $1,200 a year 
back from the Federal Government. That might sound like a lot, but 
health insurance costs the average family almost $11,000 a year. This 
small deduction will continue to make health care out of reach.
  Madam Speaker, unfortunately, the President's proposal is not the 
right approach.

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