Lloyd Bentsen: “I have spoken on this before, but after hearing the gentleman from California, I wanted to address something. I think he…”

“I have spoken on this before, but after hearing the gentleman from California, I wanted to address something. I think he was all over the ballpark. He made a comment about 20 Members of Congress who reside in Washington, DC and do not send their children to public schools. My children have been both in public schools and private schools. But the fact is, this bill, as I mentioned earlier, would entitle many Members of Congress, except those who have other income that exceeds the $160,000 limit, this is giving a tax break not only to people who make $160,000 a year, but to Members of Congress, including the ones that live in the District of Columbia. I have not talked to any Members of Congress who are asking for a tax break, but that is what this bill does. The gentleman also says that this is designed to get the money to the teachers. It is not going to do that. This is designed to give a tax break to people who have disposable income that they can set aside along with the income they set aside for other savings to help pay the cost of sending their kids to private school. Let us just be honest about what we are doing here. It is fine, if Members are for it, fine, but let us be honest about it. Let us not paint this beautiful picture about what it really is not. Let us be honest about what we are doing here. So I think we need to clarify these points and understand that this is a tax break that we are giving.”