[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 47 (Monday, November 26, 2007)]
[Pages 1521-1522]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

November 17, 2007

    Good morning. In a few days, our Nation will celebrate Thanksgiving. 
Like millions of Americans, Members of Congress will travel home for the 
holiday. Unfortunately, as they get to work carving their turkeys, 
they're leaving a lot of unfinished work back in Washington, DC. And 
unless they complete this work soon, middle class Americans will pay 
higher taxes and American troops will not receive the critical funding 
they need to fight and defeat our enemies.
    Many middle class taxpayers will face higher tax bills unless 
Congress acts on the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT. The AMT was 
designed to ensure that the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes. But 
when Congress passed the AMT decades ago, it was not indexed for 
inflation. As a result, the AMT's higher tax burden is creeping up on 
more and more middle class families.

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    To deal with this problem, Congress has in recent years passed 
temporary legislation that prevented most middle class taxpayers from 
having to pay the AMT. But this year, Congress has yet to pass this 
legislation. A failure to do so would mean that 25 million Americans 
would be subject to the AMT, more than six times the number that faced 
the tax last year. If you are one of those 25 million, you would have to 
send an average of $2,000 more to the IRS next year. This is a huge tax 
increase that Americans do not expect and do not deserve.
    The longer Congress waits to fix this problem, the worse it will 
get. Last month, Treasury Secretary Paulson wrote a letter to Members of 
Congress warning that delaying action on legislation to fix the AMT 
could create confusion for millions of taxpayers and delay the delivery 
of about $75 billion worth of tax refund checks. Congress has ignored 
Secretary Paulson's warnings, and we are now beginning to see the 
consequences. On Friday, the tax forms for 2007 had to be sent to the 
Government Printer. And because of Congress's refusal to act, the IRS 
will be forced to send out tens of millions of tax forms that will 
almost certainly end up being wrong, wasting your money, delaying 
refunds, and making it even more complicated to figure out your taxes.
    It is clear that Congress's failure to adjust the AMT for inflation 
was a mistake. Unfortunately, Congress seems determined to compound this 
original mistake by making another one. Last week, the House passed a 
bill that provides relief from the AMT but raises other taxes. Congress 
should not use legislation that millions of Americans are counting on to 
protect them from higher taxes in one area as an excuse to raise taxes 
in other areas. I will veto any bill that raises taxes as a condition of 
fixing the AMT. Members of Congress must put political theater behind 
them, fix the AMT, and protect America's middle class from an unfair tax 
hike.
    Congress is also failing to meet its responsibilities to our troops. 
For months, Congress has delayed action on supplemental war funding 
because some in Congress want to make a political statement about the 
war. On Wednesday, the House passed a bill that once again has Congress 
directing our military commanders on how to conduct the war in Iraq as a 
condition for funding our troops. We do not need Members of Congress 
telling our commanders what to do. We need Congress listening to our 
military commanders and giving them what they need to win the war 
against extremists and radicals. Congress knows I'll veto this bill. 
During this time of war, our troops deserve the full support of 
Congress, and that means giving our troops the funding they need to 
successfully carry out their mission. I urge Congress to work quickly 
and send me a clean bill, so we can fulfill our obligation to our brave 
men and women in uniform.
     With both of these delays, congressional leaders are choosing 
political posturing over the priorities of the people. These choices 
have real-world consequences for our taxpayers and our troops. When 
Members of Congress return from their 2-week long Thanksgiving vacation, 
they will have only a few weeks left on the legislative calendar before 
they go home again for their Christmas break. I call on Congress to use 
the time that is left to do what is right and pass AMT relief and fund 
our troops in combat.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7:50 a.m. on November 16 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on November 
17. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on November 16 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.