Jane Harman: “I rise to oppose the reconciliation conference report. For close to a decade, I have made every hard vote to balance the…”

“I rise to oppose the reconciliation conference report. For close to a decade, I have made every hard vote to balance the budget, eliminate the deficit, and reduce our $5 trillion nation debt. I made these votes because they were responsible, and because the alternative for my constituents and future generations was continued economic hardship, high unemployment, high interest rates, high mortgage rates, and a decline in the standard of living that my generation has enjoyed. This is another of those brutally hard choices. I support tax cuts and have recently voted for marriage penalty relief and eventual elimination of the estate tax. I expect to vote for needed tax cuts in the future, including true relief from the AMT, a package of relief for small business, and a permanent research and development tax credit. But none of these important tax cuts is included in today's package. It includes some good features, such as improved pension portability, expanded IRA contributions and marriage penalty relief, but it is riddled with gimmicks and it is backloaded. Taxpayers in my district will be enormously disappointed when they see how little relief they actually get, and learn that, despite promises to the contrary, Social Security and Medicare trust funds are included in budget projections. My family and I would personally benefit from a reduction in the top tax rate.”