Sam Gibbons: “last month Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan echoed what this Republican-led Congress has supported for years…”

“last month Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan echoed what this Republican-led Congress has supported for years, that we should pay down our national debt and grant Americans tax relief, instead of increasing the size of the Federal Government. According to the Census Bureau, Mr. Speaker, the average household pays almost $9,500 in Federal income taxes this year, and that is twice what the average family paid in 1985. But we do not only pay Federal income taxes, we pay taxes when we use the phone, buy clothing, pump gas, sell stock, sleep at a motel, ride on an airplane, get married, or even when we die. It is time for hard-working Americans to get a break from all of these taxes. Now is the time. We can enact meaningful tax relief while still remaining fiscally responsible and paying off our national debt. There is no excuse, Mr. Speaker, not to give the Americans what they want, what they need, and what they deserve, a tax break.”