Collin Peterson: “I offer a motion to recommit, on behalf of my colleagues in the Blue Dog Coalition, that provides tax relief to…”

“I offer a motion to recommit, on behalf of my colleagues in the Blue Dog Coalition, that provides tax relief to mainstream America, small businesses, farmers, and working families, and does all of that in a fiscally responsible way. First of all, I want to thank our leadership for allowing us to offer this. I also want to thank my Blue Dog colleagues for their hard work and determination in developing this alternative tax bill. And finally, I want to thank the gentleman from New York [Mr. Rangel] and his staff for all of their assistance. First of all, Mr. Speaker, we are going to hear about a chart that I just received when I walked in from Joint Tax that says we are $4.7 billion over in the first 5 years. This is the first I have seen of this. We do not agree with this, and we cannot really respond because we do not know the basis for these numbers. Clearly, this can fit within the $85 billion. It also says we are at $230 billion over the 10 years. So I just want to make that clear, and this will fit within the terms of the budget agreement. A lot of Democrats in this body, Mr. Speaker, support tax cuts, and we always have, just as President Clinton has supported tax relief for American families. But if we are going to provide tax relief and balance the budget at the same time, tax relief must be well- constructed and targeted to working families and it must not bust the budget.”