Mike Enzi: “I rise in support of H.R. 2014, the conference report on tax relief. Through this tax package, we can give the American…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 2014, the conference report on tax relief. Through this tax package, we can give the American people the first serious tax reduction package in 16 years. This legislation provides tax relief to families with children, it offers greatly needed relief for small business, and it encourages education and investment. Finally this legislation gives some relief to individuals and small businesses from the punitive Federal death tax. I commend the Chairmen of the Finance and Budget Committees and the other conferees for their hard work on this package. We must realize that we still have a long journey ahead in relieving the tax burden on American taxpayers and in simplifying the cumbersome tax code. Mr. President, our tax burden in this country is overwhelming. We tax income, we tax investment, and we tax savings. In fact, we have pretty well figured out a way of taxing a person from the time he gets up in the morning to the time he goes to bed. From the time you wake up in the morning and have your first cup of coffee, you are paying sales tax. When you get in your car and drive to work, you are paying gasoline tax. As you work all day to support your family, you are also supporting the Government by paying income tax. When you go home and spend time with your family and finally go to bed, you are paying property tax. If you decide to make a telephone call or turn on the light switch, you get taxed for that too.”