Date: 2003-05-09
Speaker: VAN HOLLEN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. earlier today. in less than 1 honrs time. this House of Representatives set our Nation on a very reckless economic course. We are here today in a time of great national challenge. Overseas we face the large challenge of rebuilding Iraq and trying to establish a democratic form of government in that country of about 23 million people. The President recently asked for. and the Congress appropriated. about $80 billion for our efforts in Iraq. But while we are engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. we must not forget the very real needs right at home. Because while we build new schools and new hospitals in Iraq and we work to get the Iraqi economy moving again. this administration has been very much out of touch with our needs right here at home and with getting our economy moving again right here In America. Since the Bush administration came to office. we have lost 2.7 million jobs in this country. Gone. vanished. Half a million of those jobs were lost in the last 3 months alone. And today. 8.8 million Americans are unemployed. We need an economic plan that will put America back to work and a plan that will reflect the values and the priorities of the American people. The Republican tax package that was adopted earlier today does not. It will not stimulate the economy. it will only stimulate red ink in the years to come. and it does not reflect the priorities of the American family. it reflects the priorities of a very few at the expense of our national interests. In fact. the message of the Republican tax cut today was loud and clear: forget about the people who are out of work. Forget about the longterm fiscal health of our country. Their number one domestic priority. number one. the most pressing need in America today. according to the package and message they sent. is that the very wealthiest in our country. the people at the very top of the ladder are being taxed too much and we need to give them a big tax cut in the form of capital gains tax cuts and a removal of the tax on stock dividends. I can tell my colleagues. and I think we all know( that the troops who sacrificed so bravely. most of them are not waiting for their big stock dividends in the mail. But our troops. their children. and all Americans will be paying for this in the long run. because this tax cut is going to exacerbate the fiscal problems in this country. We have already had the biggest reversal in American history. from a $5.6 trillion projected surplus to $2 trillion projected deficits.- And who is going to pay? In the long run. we are all going to pay. because we either pay in terms of taxes increased on our children in future generations. or major cuts in programs that are important to the American people such as Social Security and Medicare. In fact. we are going to be paying right now. because when we reduce our obligations to the States. when we do not fulfill our promises under the Leave No Child Behind Act. where this year we are $9 billion short of what had been committed. we place greater burdens on the States. And the States either have to do one of two things. They either have to increase revenues and taxes. or they have to cut back on programs. In the State of Maryland. we are seeing dramatic cuts in higher education. Who is paying for those? Students. Their tuition is going up by more than 10 percent. It is simply a tax. on students. It is a tax on other people. You cannot get a free lunch. The American people know that. Someone has to pay. Look at what we are doing to veterans benefits. Sure. we are reducing taxes to the very wealthiest in this country. but what is the result? A dramatic cutback in benefits for veterans. So what do we do? There was an alternative plan put forward by the Democrats. but no one was allowed an upordown vote on that plan here in this body. It called for greater relief for the States so they do not have to either increase taxes back home locally or dramatically cut education and health benefits. It called for a tax break for more middle Americans. increasing the child tax credit. an acceleration of the marriage penalty relief. It called for greater relief for unemployed workers and their families so that they could continue to pay the rent. continud to put food on the table. and that relief has a Pig impact on the economy. Those are people who need the funds. they have been in work. they lost their jobs through no fault of their own. they are continuing to look for work. and when they get that dollar of help. they go out and spend it in the economy. Finally. it provides for business tax credits to provide for investment now. Mr. Speaker. in closing. I just find that this particular proposal that was adopted today sets our Nation on a reckless course. We need a plan for all of America that will move our entire Nation forward. and I hope in the days ahead we will do that.