Xavier Becerra: “we have just provided to the privileged few in this Nation, the opportunity to have massive tax cuts. I would like to…”

“we have just provided to the privileged few in this Nation, the opportunity to have massive tax cuts. I would like to have an opportunity to go through a few of the things that we have just heard discussed over the last several hours of debate on this tax bill. But I would like to do it under the context of what will happen in many situations that will, of course, not help at all with single Americans, especially middle-income Americans, but will in effect help some of the wealthiest, not so much individuals, but some of the wealthiest corporations in America. I have before me some headline news. Headline news not of 1995, although I must tell you that the headlines will be very appropriate in 1995 if this tax bill goes through, but these are headlines from 1984, 1985, and 1986, years when we did not have what we call the alternative minimum tax. The alternative minimum tax, for those who do not know, is a proposal that took effect in 1986 because we had situations, as you see here, declared in some of our major newspapers throughout the country. We had situations as Newsday reports where 50 major firms paid no U.S. taxes. We are talking about firms that made profits in the billions. We had corporations, as the headlines say, that paid less taxes then our families, in some cases families earning less than $20 to $30,000.”