May 3, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE H 4517

ONE TOO MANY PROMISES

(Ms. DELAURO asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Ms. DELAURO. Mr. Speaker, there is

no mystery as to why the Republican

leadership is late in producing their

promised balanced budget and it seems

that the party that loves to talk about

promises made and promises kept may

have made one too many promises

when it comes to tax breaks for their

wealthy friends. Who is being asked to

finance the GOP tax windfall to the

wealthy this time? Senior citizens. In

fact, the Republican leaders want to

cut $300 billion from Medicare to help

to pay for their $325 billion tax giveaway to the wealthy. These cuts would

add more than $3,000 to seniors’ health

care costs.

Mr. Speaker, Medicare is a program

that works. It has made a difference in

the lives of our seniors by bringing affordable care to seniors on fixed incomes.

This cut would be devastating to seniors. Do not take my word for it; listen

to what the Republican chairman of

the House Committee on Ways and

Means, the gentleman from Texas [Mr.

ARCHER], said last year about Medicare

cuts. I quote:

I just don’t believe that quality of care and

availability of care can survive these additional cuts. And that is the price that is

going to have to be paid to pay for these

cuts.

Republican leaders in the House

should remember those words and reconsider this wrongheaded plan. We, in

this body, should be fighting to save

the Medicare safety net for seniors, not

robbing the Medicare trust fund to pay

for tax breaks for the wealthy.

VOLUNTEER EMPOWERMENT ACT

THE GIVING INCENTIVE AND

f(Mr. SOUDER asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute.)

Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, the Cato

Institute estimates that spending on

welfare programs by all levels of government runs over $35,000 for every

family of four below the poverty line.

But it is painfully obvious that the average poor family does not even come

close to receiving this much money.

The bulk is spent on bureaucratic overhead, not on the people it is intended

to help.

Today, I will be introducing a bill to

expand the tax incentive for charitable

giving, thereby offering average citizens a chance to do more for those in

need than the government ever could.

My bill—the Giving Incentive and Volunteer Empowerment Act, or the GIVE

Act—will encourage more charitable

donations to private sector charities

and other nonprofits, which get a much

bigger bang for their bucks than do

government-run programs.

The GIVE Act will do four things:

First, allow all individual filers to

deduct from taxable income 120 percent

of the value of their charitable donation.

Second, once again allow non-itemizers to deduct for charitable deductions, as long as they give more than

$1,000, or $2,000 filing jointly.

Third, exclude charitable giving from

the overall limitation on itemized deductions.

Fourth, extend the deadline for making tax-deductible charitable donations

until April 15, when taxpayers are past

the end-of-the-year cash crunch and

can better estimate their tax liability.

I want to make it plain the GIVE Act

is not meant to supplant all Government spending on social programs. But

as we seek to reassert fiscal responsibility in government, increased private giving and volunteer involvement

can fill a need the deficit spending cannot—and with more success, efficiency,

and compassion.

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THE BALANCED BUDGET

ENFORCEMENT ACT

(Mr. VISCLOSKY asked and was

given permission to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend

his remarks.)

Mr. VISCLOSKY. Mr. Speaker, the

budget resolution is just around the

corner and it is time to put the money

where our mouths are and actually balance the budget.

Our deficits have left us with a debt

of $4.7 trillion or $47,000 per taxpayer.

Our yearly interest payments on the

debt exceed $200 billion or $2,000 per

taxpayer. This reduces wage rates, destroys jobs, and mortgages our future.

To start balancing the budget today,

Mr. STENHOLM and I have introduced

the Balanced Budget Enforcement Act.

This bill will force us to make the

tough decisions to balance the budget

in 2002.

Unlike past attempts to balance the

budget, this bill holds everyone’s feet

to the fire. There are no loopholes. Everything’s on-budget. And all smokeand-mirror projections will be checked

by a nonpartisan Board of Estimates at

the beginning and end of the annual

budgeting process.

Mr. Speaker, everyone says they

want to balance the budget, but we

have not even come close. I have been

in Washington long enough to know

that the Balanced Budget Enforcement

Act will work. If we are really serious

about balancing the budget, the House

will include this bill in the budget resolution.

(Mr. HUTCHINSON asked and was

DON SODERQUIST

fgiven permission to address the House

for 1 minute and to revise and extend

his remarks.)

Mr. HUTCHINSON. Mr. Speaker, I

am pleased today to recognize a personal friend and distinguished businessman from my district, Don

Soderquist. Don is the chairman of the

board of the International Mass Retail

Association [IMRA], and vice chairman

and chief operating officer of Wal-Mart

Stores, and in both capacities has

shown a tireless commitment to this

country and the principles on which it

was built.

This month, Don is ending his term

as chairman of the IMRA, the trade association that represents the vibrant

mass-retailing industry. Don has been

involved with discount and mass retailing since 1964, when he began his retailing career with Ben Franklin Stores.

He joined Wal-Mart in 1980 as senior

vice president. Throughout his career,

he has exemplified the work ethic and

entrepreneurial spirit.

Don is characterized by the depth of

his personal commitments to his family, his church, and his community.

I ask all my colleagues to join me in

saluting Don Soderquist as a devoted

family man and dedicated business

leader. While his leadership at IMRA

will be missed, we wish him the best of

luck at Wal-Mart and in his other endeavors.

AMERICA LOSES WITH THE

MAJORITY BUDGET

f(Mrs. CLAYTON asked and was given

permission to address the House for 1

minute and to revise and extend her remarks and include extraneous material.)

Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, by all

accounts, there is at least a $3,500 billion hole in the budget that the majority will present to us next week. They

want to balance the budget, and so do

I. They do not want to cut Medicare, if

possible; so do I. But they have also

passed a bill to give the wealthiest of

Americans a tax cut.

In other words, they want to use onehalf of the budget for deficit reduction,

they say; half of the money will go for

Medicare, and the third half will go for

the wealthiest Americans. That math

does not add up, Mr. Speaker.

The tax cut will cost more than $345

billion that they gave to the wealthiest

Americans. That is $45 billion more

than they need to save Medicare. Now

we are told the majority wants to put

off the decision about Medicare. They

are already 1 month behind their commitment to present a budget to this

House.

Mr. Speaker, it seems clear what is

going on here. In the end the majority

will cut more than fat out of Medicare;

they will cut the bone and the marrow

out of Medicare. They will cause senior

citizens to spend more than $3,000 more

for their medical care.

Mr. Speaker, that is not fair. America will be the losers in the end if we do

not address this appropriately.