Trent Lott: “I will be brief. In line with what I was just saying, I have been informed by the staff that the Parliamentarian…”

“I will be brief. In line with what I was just saying, I have been informed by the staff that the Parliamentarian probably would consider motions to instruct conferees regarding making permanent the changes we have provided in the alternative minimum tax area. If that would be in order, if we start down this trail of motions to instruct, I would be prepared to offer one in this AMT area or defer to the chairman, if he would prefer to do so. This is an area in which we should act. I remember a few years ago when we got into the discussion of the alternative minimum tax, the desired goal was to make sure that everybody paid some minimum amount of taxes. It was aimed at the wealthy. But as we all have learned, because of the way the Tax Code works, more and more middle-income Americans have been pulled into this AMT web. It has gotten to be a serious problem, so we have proposed to do something in the Senate- passed bill on a temporary basis on the AMT. My proposal would be, if it is the right thing to do, make it permanent. This is the kind of thing we are playing around with that is inappropriate. Why would we do it for a year or two? If it is the right thing to do, let's make it permanent. I suspect there are some people in the Senate who will not want to do that for whatever reason. My question is: Why not, if it is the right thing to do? The same thing is true with some of the other proposals which have been considered.…”