Rod Grams: “I commend Chairman Roth for the great leadership he has demonstrated in bringing this legislation before us. And I…”

“I commend Chairman Roth for the great leadership he has demonstrated in bringing this legislation before us. And I commend Senator Gramm for this amendment tonight. My good friend and colleague from Arkansas, Senator Tim Hutchinson, and I were freshman Members of the House in 1993 when we came together with Senator Coats of Indiana to develop a budget proposal called Family First that could serve as the taxpayer's alternative to the higher taxes and bigger Government plan offered by President Clinton. The key component of our legislation was family tax relief through a $500 per child tax credit. We convinced the House and Senate leadership to make our Families First bill--with the $500 per child tax credit as its centerpiece--the Republican budget alternative in 1994. For overtaxed American families, 1997 looks to be the year this long-promised, long-overdue middle-class tax relief is finally delivered. As you know, working families today need tax relief more than ever. Factor in State and local taxes and the hidden taxes that result from the high cost of Government regulations, and a family today gives up more than 50 percent of its annual income to the Government. So all we are saying is let us let the working people of this Nation keep a little bit more of their own money. The $500 per child tax credit proposal in the bill before us goes a long way toward delivering tax relief to working families raising children.”