Rob Portman

I actually have had legislation in to repeal the AMT for many years. So I go even further than the gentleman goes in terms of AMT relief. So the gentleman is not the only one who is interested in it; but he has brought focus to it and we…

I would tell the gentleman two things. Number one, at that time we were working on a bipartisan basis to try to get a balanced budget agreement through the Congress, which we did support. We wanted a cap on spending, you wanted it on…

I appreciate the fact that over the years the gentleman has been willing to stand in this well and support fiscal discipline in the area of spending restraint; and you have done it frankly against your own party's wishes many times. The…

This is a very strong bill that I strongly support. I commend those who played a role in putting it together... It does solve the 30-year problem, and that is extremely important to 34 million American workers.

I respect the gentleman's vote-counting ability, as he knows, but being on the committee, I can say that I am not certain such a bill could have even been reported out the committee because there are many complexities with responding to…

Ultimately, it is up to the will of the Congress, is it not, as to how we enforce our budgets? I just do not know what the likely form will take. Again, I think our goal would be to have a healthy debate over the enforcement mechanisms. We…

I want to echo the concerns he raised about this not being the more comprehensive approach that is needed. I also want to thank him for working with me and other Members on both sides of the aisle over the last 3 years in putting together…

There is no silence among those of us who support these trade agreements. These are good trade agreements because they will mean more U.S. jobs. That is the whole point. This is a very exciting day on the floor... we have lost jobs all…

The House bill, we believe, is more appropriate because it covers more families and more children, and we think it is fairer than the Senate bill. The Senate has a different point of view. We are still working out those differences.

I would say that what the President would like to do is he would like to get this issue off the table and to provide this relief, both to working families who do pay income taxes, which is provided in our bill, but also to those folks who…

As we know, several States and the District of Columbia have State lotteries that fund education and other State needs. In these States, the lotteries operate under a strict set of State rules. Is it the gentleman's understanding, again…

I would ask the gentlewoman how it is going to help one person have a more secure pension. It has nothing to do with what is before us. It is a great message. I would ask the gentlewoman, I know that she is not on our committee that dealt…

I should know what the point of the bill is since on a bipartisan basis we have spent 5 years putting it together, fully vetted by all committees of Congress, including the Committee on Ways and Means that had jurisdiction.

I respond to the gentleman regarding where that data comes from for two reasons: One, as the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) and the other side of the aisle has just said, most of the money in this bill actually goes in the IRAs…

That is why there is more funding being provided for each welfare family, because as we provide those additional services, there is additional funding needed; and the underlying bill provides that. Yet it sticks to the basic formula that…

I think it is a sad day on the floor of the House when we have that kind of rhetoric over legislation that traditionally has been bipartisan, and that in fact is commonsense legislation that helps working people. Earlier speakers have said…

I know at the end of the day, some of my colleagues have some substantive differences with the legislation and they also have some politics that they would like to talk about; and I would love to address the gentleman from Texas's quote…

I would like him to tell me one thing that I said about the bill that is not in the legislation.

No. It is a great program because you get the certificate and you use it. Do not sell people short. They can figure this out.

We totally agree that it is very urgent to bring this measure to the floor. As we know, the Senate completed action only late last night. There are some differences between the President's proposal and the Senate bill. There are some…

What I said is accurate which is that this bill does address the question of cash balance conversions. It does so in three very important ways: number one, it addresses the issue of disclosure. It says the disclosure has to be in plain…

I think we will have this on a motion to recommit as well, but the point ought to be made and made very clearly that the underlying legislation actually addresses this issue. It actually moves the ball forward. It provides disclosure. It…

I applaud him for this tax bill, which is a great tax relief effort; and I will be strongly supportive. I have never seen any President, Republican or Democrat, reach out so much to the other side. He has tried to bring Democrats and…

I would like to focus, if I could, this afternoon on the retirement security package that is before us. This is bipartisan legislation that my friend and colleague, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), and I have worked on over the…

What has become known, Mr. Speaker, as the Underground Railroad was a system of cooperation among African-American slaves, freed slaves, abolitionists, and other sympathetic whites to help slaves escape bondage and obtain freedom.