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. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, at the end of last year we came to the floor, as was pointed out, to vote on the tax reconciliation bill. That bill extended tax cuts that did not expire for years, and it ignored tax relief that was expiring within days, relief from the alternative minimum tax, or the AMT.
Now, just this past Monday, the President released his annual budget; and it was, with apologies to Yogi Berra, deja vu all over again. He called on Congress to make permanent $1.4 trillion in tax cuts. Some of those do not expire for years to come. And he called on Congress to make permanent relief from the AMT only through fundamental reforms of the Tax Code. Unfortunately, his budget did not call for fundamental tax reform.
So that is the naked tax increase that was alluded to. If it is not fixed, this creates 17 million new taxpayers, a tax on 17 million new people.
If our friends on the other side of the aisle tell us, as they do often enough, that the budget is a document outlining the priorities of the President, then we can only deduct that paying down the debt is not a priority of this administration; that managing our money so that we no longer have to mortgage our future to countries like Japan and China is not a priority of this administration; and permanent AMT relief for working and middle-class families is just not a priority of this administration.
Mr. Speaker, these are priorities for everyday Americans and for those of us on the Democratic side of the aisle. I urge my colleagues to support this motion to instruct which reflects the priorities of Americans and calls upon the conferees to provide immediate and fiscally responsible relief from the alternative minimum tax, which is going to tax 17 million new people.
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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding to me; and I just want to point out that I represent seven counties, and I have people that are going to get caught in this AMT tax just like you do and just like every one of our colleagues across the country.
This was a tax, as you point out, to make sure people did not get out of their tax liability. But it was never indexed; and now it has crept up to catch all those good, hardworking people in the middle. And, Mr. Chairman, you know that our State pays 25 percent of the AMT that comes to the Federal Government.
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