Appointment of Conferees on H.R. 4297, Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act of 2005

APPOINTMENT OF CONFEREES ON H.R. 4297, TAX RELIEF EXTENSION RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - February 08, 2006)

Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, we all know that perhaps more important than anything else we do here, we set and we establish priorities. Our motion to instruct sets forth the priorities that I believe should be followed in the conference on this legislation.

The priorities of the Republican majority are clear: Large tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest in our society, while slashing initiatives that protect the most vulnerable in our society. Even in normal times, these priorities would be wrong, but these are not normal times.

America is currently involved in two wars, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. These are the first wars in our country's history where only those in the military and the poor are being asked to sacrifice.

Hurricane Katrina forced America to see poverty and its consequences. And let me compliment former President Jimmy Carter for his remarks yesterday at Mrs. King's funeral when he spoke of that very issue.

The administration has converted surpluses into an enormous budget deficit, but has done nothing to prepare programs like Social Security and Medicare for the future other than to threaten privatization. The most significant fiscal turnaround in the history of America has occurred on the watch of the Republican majority here in the Congress.

What I think is interesting, and I say this with great confidence, during these past few years we have almost doubled defense spending, we are fighting two wars, we have created a Department of Homeland Security, we have witnessed the national principle play out during Hurricane Katrina, and we have done all of this with six tax cuts. There is not anybody who is watching at home tonight in America who could run their personal lives on that basis. They could never hope to balance the ledger of trying to raise a family if they attempted to copy the model utilized by this Congress.

Our motion to instruct sets forth different priorities. First, it instructs the House conferees to follow the Senate bill and extend alternative minimum tax relief. Now, I must say that during my time as being one of the leaders here, it even was acknowledged by one of my friends on the other side, in the area of alternative minimum tax, that seldom have I had any issue in my time where I spoke of an issue more earnestly, received more congratulations from Members of both parties, and seen less extensive action than in the area of alternative minimum tax. This should be one of our first priorities. Without an extension of this relief, over 17 million Americans will face a tax increase in 2006, and the size of that tax increase could be as large as $3,640. Many middle-income families, largely married couples with children, simply are going to face higher taxes. That should be the priorities that we entertain.

Second, our motion to instruct would require the House conferees to drop any extension of the tax benefits for dividend and capital gains. Those benefits do not terminate until the end of 2008, so there is time to extend these benefits in the future if it is to be determined that they are appropriate as we seek balance in the ledger. Almost half of those benefits would be enjoyed by the wealthiest one-fifth of one percent of individuals, or better understood as individuals with annual incomes over $1 million.

Third, our motion requires the House conferees to develop a conference report with the view to not further increasing the Federal deficit. The administration projects a Federal deficit of over $400 billion for this fiscal year.

By the way, we have been told for the last 5 years that those numbers were going to come down substantially. The administration is proposing large deductions in education and health programs using the large deficit as an excuse, the very deficit they have created by their actions. Many of us on both sides of the aisle will oppose those misguided spending reductions. And once we get to the real battle here in the coming year over Medicare and Medicaid, my suspicion is that they will see all the action that Social Security saw in the past year. Further tax cuts for the superwealthy would jeopardize the remaining safety net for our children, for the disabled, and for other vulnerable individuals in the future.

Mr. Speaker, I would hope that we would have an open conference where the views of all parties might be expressed. After all, that ought to be one of the cornerstones of our democracy.

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Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts. One thing I agree with the previous speaker on, that the American people are going more in the hole; and when they feel what is happening to student aid and cutbacks in scholarship money because of the Republican majority, they are going to know what being in the hole is really about.

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