Rod Grams: “I rise today to make a few brief remarks about tax cuts and the budget, and the promises that have so tightly entwined…”

“I rise today to make a few brief remarks about tax cuts and the budget, and the promises that have so tightly entwined the two. The House passed its budget resolution last Friday by a vote of 216 to 204. The House budget plan would cut $101 billion in government spending over the next 5 years. It would also repeal the marriage penalty tax, which has unjustly punished 21 million couples just for getting married. However, the House-passed budget plan failed to provide reconciliation instructions for achieving this tax relief, and failed to provide clear guidance on how to use any budget surpluses. While the efforts by our colleagues in the House represent a move in the right direction, Congress must do better by the taxpayers. It now falls to the conference committee to ensure we keep our promise to offer meaningful tax relief to working Americans. That promise must provide the framework for the budget resolution produced by this Congress. Thanks to the exceptionally healthy economy, our short-term fiscal condition has greatly improved in the past few years, not because of what Congress did--in spite of what Congress did. But it is the economy. In fact, we will soon see a unified budget surplus for the first time since 1969. On May 26, President Clinton announced that this year's budget surplus would be $39 billion.”