Revising The Concurrent Resolution On The Budget for Fiscal Year 2005 As It Applies in The House of Representatives

Revising The Concurrent Resolution On The Budget for Fiscal Year 2005 As It Applies in The House of Representatives -- (House of Representatives - June 24, 2004)

Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to the order of the House of June 22, 2004, I call up the resolution (H. Res. 685) revising the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2005 as it applies in the House of Representatives, and ask for its immediate consideration.

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Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I was moved by this last speech. I really was. It was beautiful rhetoric and impressive rhetoric. But what I have learned here since I have been in D.C. is there are some Members of the Democratic Party who just will not let the facts confuse the issue.

Let us look at some of those facts. You see, there is a huge difference, I agree with the gentleman from New York who has just spoken, there is a huge difference between the two parties; and these are the facts. The big difference is that our friends in the minority party will find every opportunity to raise the taxes of every living American. No, no, let me correct myself. Not only every living American, but they will even try to raise taxes of Americans who have died, at every single opportunity, including a nonbinding resolution that will do absolutely nothing, by the way, if it were to pass. But they just cannot help it. They have to try to raise taxes on every single hardworking American family and every single hardworking American business and every single small business, which are the ones that create the jobs in this country.

This resolution would raise taxes by almost $19 billion, with a B, billion dollars in just 2005. It would increase spending by $14.2 billion next year. And according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, this resolution, again which is nonbinding, would be equivalent to a tax increase of $4.62 on those families and those small businesses in this country. And, again, that would cause possibly the loss of 130,000 jobs.

They keep saying, well, some of these people can afford that tax increase. But how about those 130,000 people who would lose their jobs if this were to happen? Can they afford more taxation? Can they afford this kind of resolution? The answer is no.

But, you see, they are consistent. Democrats are consistent. They are consistent because they offered three amendments to the Republican budget that would have raised taxes by over $100 billion. They offered alternatives to major legislation just last year that would have added close to $1 trillion to the deficit. And yet their rhetoric is beautiful. Actually, it is very nice. Mine cannot compare with that.

This is right off the page of Senator JOHN KERRY: raise taxes, increase spending, decrease the family budget in order to grow the Federal budget, in order to hire more bureaucracy, more bureaucrats up here.

American families and American small businesses do not need more tax employees. American families do not need more bureaucrats taking more money out of their hard-earned pockets to send to D.C. It is their money, not the government's money.

What they need is for us to continue growing this economy. And the way to do it, and it has been proven, is cutting taxes, cutting taxes like we have done. That is why the economy is doing well. We do not need tax increases on every American. What we need is to, again, continue to have sound fiscal policy.

Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. Let me simply say, Mr. Speaker, that this is no less binding than is the budget resolution passed by the Republican majority.

Let me also say that we have heard a lot of concern about small business. I would like to see how many small businesses in each of our districts have profits of $1 million per owner to qualify under this bill.

Thirdly, we are not raising taxes; we are asking people who make $1 million a year or more to limit themselves to a $24,000, on average, tax cut, which is still 25 times as much as the average person in this country making $50,000 a year will get.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the distinguished minority leader.

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