GOVERNOR BUSH'S TAX PROPOSAL -- (House of Representatives - October 29, 2000)
 

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   The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from California (Mr. SHERMAN) is recognized for 5 minutes.

   Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, our economic prosperity is fragile and the political reasons, the political rhetoric out there in the country threatens to put that prosperity at risk. The Governor of Texas has mocked the importance of fiscal responsibility. It is in his political interest to tell the country that decisions made in Washington over the last 8 years have nothing to do with the economic prosperity that we have enjoyed over the last 8 years. Not only is he wrong but his statements lay the foundation for some very, very dangerous economic policies.

   The Governor of Texas is correct that the lion's share of credit for our economic prosperity goes to American workers whose ingenuity, whose hard work, whose inventiveness are unparalleled; but for political gain, he denies that there is another essential element and that is fiscal responsibility here in Washington. When he denies that the Federal Government has anything to do with how our economy performs, he grants us here in Washington a license to be fiscally irresponsible, because if Government really has nothing to do with the prosperity over the last 8 years, then the Government is free to do whatever we want it to do without putting that prosperity at risk.

   The facts are otherwise. During the mid-1980s, during the late 1980s, during the early 1990s, Americans were hard working. They showed ingenuity, did everything possible to give us prosperity and yet the country was not prosperous, and this is because we did not have fiscal responsibility here in Washington. Now for 8 years, the Clinton-Gore administration has insisted that we have fiscally responsible budgets; and prosperity has returned to this country. If we are told that those budgets have nothing to do with our prosperity, that lays the foundation for the kinds of huge $2.6 trillion tax cuts that this country cannot afford, with the result that Government borrowing will swallow up private savings, returning us to high interest rates and recession.

   The second aspect of the Governor's remarks that are clearly false is when 

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he says that under his plan every American who pays taxes will get tax relief. He forgets that 15 million Americans pay FICA tax and do not pay any income tax and for these people, the people who clean up for us in restaurants, the people who take care of our old people in senior citizens' homes and nursing homes, people struggling to get by an $15,000 and $18,000 a year, he gives not one penny of tax relief because he is providing over 43 percent of the tax relief to the richest 1 percent of Americans; nothing for the janitors, everything for the billionaires. He ought to at least be honest enough to tell the country that that is what his tax policy provides.

   Finally, Mr. Speaker, when the Governor of Texas tells us that his plan will provide only $223 billion of tax relief to the richest 1 percent over the next 10 years, he ignores everything he is doing with the estate tax. He tells the country he is going to repeal the estate tax but never includes the fiscal effect of that repeal in his description of his overall tax and budget policies.

   I can only refer to this as fuzzy fiscal figures and false fiscal facts. The fact is that the estate tax will be generating $50 billion a year. That is $500 billion over 10 years, which means under the Governor's proposal, the richest 1 percent of Americans will save over $700 billion a year under the Governor's proposal. He admits to only $223 billion. He ignores the other $500 billion.

   That is why it is true when it is stated that the proposals of the Governor of Texas would provide more relief to the richest 1 percent of Americans than he proposes to spend to improve our health care system, strengthen Medicare, strengthen the military, and improve education combined.

   Mr. Speaker, our choice is clear. On the one hand, we can have fiscal responsibility, economic expansion, reduction and eventual elimination of our national debt and moderate tax cuts for working families, all combined with investments in education, Medicare, military preparedness and health care, or we can provide $700 billion to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

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