Mark Kelly: “Perhaps we have not made clear what Mr. Gephardt's motion would have meant for the senior citizens of this Nation. This…”

“Perhaps we have not made clear what Mr. Gephardt's motion would have meant for the senior citizens of this Nation. This would eliminate the repeal of the tax on social security benefits. This would eliminate the tax preference for long-term insurance, accelerated death benefits and long-term care benefits. This eliminates the elderly care tax credit. This would eliminate the increase in the Social Security earnings test. These are not tax cuts to those who do not need it. The Republican deficit reduction tax fairness act is one of the strongest pieces of seniors legislation that this Congress has moved to date, and that is why I am so proud to be an original sponsor of the seniors portion of the legislation. Essentially, what we have done with this legislation is remove the unfair tax burden that the Democrats imposed on senior citizens in the last session of Congress. Remember back in 1993 the Democrats imposed a $25 billion tax on our Nation's elderly. When President Clinton proposed this tax, he said that only the wealthiest Americans would face higher taxes. So, by President Clinton's definition, senior citizens living on fixed incomes as low as $34,000 are wealthy and ought to pay their fair share. Well, what President Clinton and the Democrats in Congress did 2 years ago was not fair, and after less than 100 days we have just corrected this injustice.”