Roy Blunt: “Mr. Speaker, let me say, as we look at this substitute again, that this is a substitute that really encompasses the bill…”

“Mr. Speaker, let me say, as we look at this substitute again, that this is a substitute that really encompasses the bill and that suggests we add other things to the bill that I think can be better handled in other pieces of legislation. The effort to work with the Treasury Department and the administration on tax shelters is in a bill which should be before the committee at any time. The social services block grant, I think, better fits another bill. This is a bill about charitable giving. It is a tax bill. We specifically eliminated the things about program delivery from a similar bill that the House passed last year because we wanted to focus on charitable giving. We did not want to focus on other programs. We wanted our focus to be on those things that changed the character of our communities because they encouraged people to assist others in their community. The House passed bills that really give the States $20 billion already, $10 billion is for Medicare costs, and $10 billion is totally flexible to the States. There is another $9 billion that is available to the States because of unspent TANF funds and welfare reform funds. That is $19 billion States could spend for these purposes. This bill is well within the amount of money we set aside this year in the budget, which I think all of the proponents of the substitute probably also oppose the budget; but the budget did pass, and it set aside money for tax relief.”