Providing for Consideration of H.R. 4359, Child Credit Preservation and Expansion Act of 2004

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 4359, CHILD CREDIT PRESERVATION AND EXPANSION ACT OF 2004 -- (House of Representatives - May 20, 2004)

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, the Federal Government's financial house is in disarray. In 2001, the Federal Government had historic surpluses in the trillions of dollars. In 2004, those surpluses are gone, replaced by huge deficits.

Last night, by a very small margin, the House of Representatives passed a budget with a deficit of $367 billion. Let me repeat that: a deficit of $367 billion. The hole we are in keeps getting deeper and deeper and deeper.

Today, we are considering a measure to make permanent child tax credits. The question is not whether hard-working parents should have tax credits for each of their children. We all agree that they should. The question is whether we are going to do it in a responsible way. Are we going to target tax relief to the middle-class families who need it most, or are we going to give yet another tax break to people who do not need it? Are we going to add to the mounting Federal debt, or are we going to do the right thing and pay for these tax breaks?

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, once again the Republicans have chosen to extend tax cuts for the wealthy without paying for them.

As the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards) pointed out earlier today, the Republican leadership is giving tax breaks to Members of Congress on the same day that they are freezing education funding for military children and freezing the most important military housing improvement program in American history. It is outrageous. The priorities are all messed up.

The Republican scheme would charge the entire $228 billion cost to the country's maxed-out credit card to be paid for by the very children the Republicans claim they want to help. By contrast, the Democratic alternative pays for the entire cost of the child tax credits and is targeted to the people who need it most.

Mr. Speaker, more should be done to help the children and families who are struggling to get by. H.R. 4359 does not focus the help where it is needed most. The lowest-income families, earning less than $10,750, are not helped by this bill at all. In fact, about 70 percent of the tax credits in this bill go to tax filers in the top 20 percent of income earners.

This means that a family with a parent working full time for minimum wage, and that is $10,300 a year, would get absolutely nothing from this bill. But two-child families earning up to $250,000 would get an extra $20,000 in tax breaks over the next 10 years.

Advocates for children and fiscal responsibility alike have expressed their outrage that H.R. 4359 gives the majority of the benefit to wealthier families and adds $228 billion to the national debt that children will have to pay for. The Washington Post called this bill "bad social policy, bad tax policy and bad fiscal policy."

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject the Republican bill and support the Rangel substitute so working families get the help they need and so their children will not be the ones stuck with the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to the previous speaker that we do not have any problem, in fact we support and we have been a champion of the child tax credit. What we have a problem with is the fact that they do not want to pay for it. What we have a problem with is the other side of the aisle is adding $228 billion to the debt that is being passed on to our kids.

Mr. Speaker, how does the other side go home and say I am helping children and families of our country when essentially they are just adding to the national debt? That is irresponsible. This is the most fiscally irresponsible Congress, this is the most fiscally irresponsible President in the history of our country. It is great to get up and talk about tax relief, it is great to get up and do all of these wonderful press releases, but when it is not paid for, it is just added to the debt. That is wrong.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).

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