Max Baucus: “I again compliment my good friend, the Senator from Texas, as well as the chairman of the committee. The Senator from…”

“I again compliment my good friend, the Senator from Texas, as well as the chairman of the committee. The Senator from Texas offered this amendment last night, and at that time I explained we thought this was a very good amendment because it moves in the direction of the Democratic substitute, raising the standard deduction, in her case for married couples, to eliminate the marriage tax penalty. We would have gone further, but we compliment the Senator in going in this direction. Last night, too, there was a slight question how this was going to be paid for. We have worked it out overnight. As I understand it--the Senator may correct me if I am wrong--the AMT delayed relief provisions are no longer in place, but rather there will be a delay in the expansion of the 15-percent bracket in order to pay for this.”