David Thomas

I do so try to explain to some folks here apparently that currently in the Tax Code, if we have two people in the 15-percent bracket, their combined tax obligation, and they are both single, is less than two people in the same tax bracket…

I really do wish some Members, and we do not often do this, although we vote on it every day, would read the Congressional Record, especially the day that we debated the tax bill in this House for the first time. Because included in that…

This amendment, like the last one, ought to be verified and categorized as violating the truth-in-advertising law. This amendment has nothing to do with education. It does not mention education other than in the title. All it does is…

We believe it is legitimate and we want to move forward. All this does is do away with dividends. Therefore, we are agreeable to having an up-or-down vote.

After looking at it, it is our opinion that these numbers have nothing to do with it. It just guts the numbers and, therefore, it is not germane, and we raise the point of order.

If the Senate bill were not flawed in several different ways, the suggestion the gentleman makes would be acceptable. I think it is evidence that even the Senate recognizes some fundamental problems when they are willing to accept a bill…

As cochairman of the Rural Health Caucus in the Senate, we have been working for a very long time and will continue to work for equity payments between urban and rural areas. In this instance, in-home health care costs are often higher in…

Again I hope we find ourselves in a position to move forward. I don't think there is a soul here who would not admit we have talked enough about this judicial nomination. I don't think there is a soul here who would deny we have all made…

Reclaiming my time, if the term ``promptly'' is in a motion to recommit, you kill the CR. You do not help it. You do not nurture it. You do not defend positions that the Senate has placed in the appropriations. You kill it. If the…

Reclaiming my time, on the unemployment, as the gentleman well knows, there is a cliff that is going to occur because of the expiration of the unemployment provisions on December 28. We have had debates about how long it should be and in…

Mr. Speaker, I would place in the Record the letter that has been discussed viz a viz the administration's understanding on the Turkey-Armenia border issue. The Administration is pressing Turkey to restore economic, political and cultural…

I support wholly the content of the letter, and the fact that we are moving forward on this should in no way signify that the problems that are presently there are not being looked at and hopefully addressed in a comprehensive and…

I remind him who it is that spends the money. The administration cannot spend a dime unless it is authorized by the Congress. We find ourselves in a Congress that doesn't even have a budget. When we talk about spending and deficits, we…

I hope we do not find ourselves dealing with too many issues and dealing with them insufficiently. I hope we set priorities for where we are going to spend the rest of our time. My reaction is we need a little less talk and a lot more…

I appreciate the tone of the debate. I am concerned about the content. For the first time, not primary but secondary workers are covered. Five times in this legislation references to the most abusive forms of child labor are listed. Some…

I suggest that the tripartisan bill that is before us is probably the one that is most likely to get support. Indeed, it is the only bipartisan plan in the Senate. This bill reforms Medicare and provides prescription drug benefits which…

I think the gentleman has an excellent idea, and I think, in fact, if the goal is to get to the bottom of where the committee is and where it is not, that would solve the problem, but to cut the money of these hard-working professionals is…

Members have a right to examine files. This is a report that is in progress. If the gentleman wishes to try to examine a report that is in progress, which clearly would not be conclusive, I think we can arrange that, if that is the concern…

I was not interested in yielding to ask the gentleman a question but merely to clarify that the gentleman is adept at putting words in people's mouths. I did not say that I was going to blue-slip it. At no time did I say I was going to…

Actually, nobody deserves to be heard on this motion to recommit. It is 119 pages of nothing. The way you constructed it, knowingly and on purpose, was to pull a charade on seniors. Nothing in this bill will be available to seniors because…

Is it not true that during their working lives men very often have physicals? In fact, it is oftentimes part of their professional occupation to get a physical periodically, and many times women who are not working do not get that physical?

Is it not true in this bill that, for the first time, every senior who becomes Medicare eligible, that means every woman, gets a free physical?

As women enter their senior years, in terms of the problems they have with osteoporosis, do we include in this bill additional money to assist in mammography?

I am trying to understand how the Committee on Ways and Means is losing jurisdiction when the chairman of the committee and the ranking member are debating a bill brought to us by a rule which allows no amendments, exactly the way in which…

Just so everyone here understands that this is probably one of the grossest forms of politics that is being engaged in, the gentleman from California just took to his feet and indicated that we should be spending our time on other factors…