[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16] [House] [Pages 23633-23634] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]ALTERING TAX CREDIT FOR WORKING FAMILIES IS WRONG The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, while I have not heard many cries of Happy New Year or singing of Auld Lang Syne, today is New Year's day for the Federal fiscal year. This is day number one, and we find ourselves in this new year with the Government being able to operate only because a stop-gap emergency measure was approved earlier this week. As we begin this new year, the Federal Government is supposed to have some 13 appropriation bills approved for its normal operation. Fewer than half of those at this late date have even been sent to the President. The measure that funds all of our Federal education programs, our health research, a number of other very important programs for seniors, and for Americans of all ages, that bill has not even been presented for consideration on the floor of this House, much less sent to the President. I have just come from a press conference with the Concord Coalition with the national debt clock, which displays by the second how the national debt continues to rise. Billions of dollars of new national debt are being incurred as we fail in the Congress to deal responsibly with our budget. Instead of responsibility, what we have seen throughout this year has been one budget gimmick after another. We have had more budget emergencies designated here, I think more emergencies than the EMS has to deal with; the census being declared an emergency; an emergency on fuel assistance, since it still turns hot in the summer and cold in the winter, as it always has. All these gimmicks just like the proposal to go to a 13-month Federal fiscal year are designed solely to circumvent the spending limitations established in the Balanced Budget agreement. This year the Republicans have dipped some $18 billion into the Social Security Trust Fund just to fund the measures that they themselves have advanced this year without even getting to their irresponsible tax bill. Particularly indicative of the problems that we have been dealing with in this Congress is what has happened just within the last 24 hours. The latest of these gimmicks is to turn to the working poor in this country, the starting police officer or teacher, the fast-food worker, the nursing home worker, those who earn an earned income tax credit and get a tax refund at the end of the year as an incentive to continue working and providing for their families. The Republicans voted yesterday in committee and plan to present perhaps as early as this next week a deferral of that earned income tax credit. Instead of providing it to the folks that are working hard to make ends meet, they want to defer it. They have had the audacity to suggest that this gimmick to gain $8 billion right out of the hides of working families; the Republicans defended that in the Washington Post this week saying their plan ``would encourage better monthly planning for the beneficiaries.'' They want better monthly planning for the nurse who is looking forward to that tax refund in order to make a [[Page 23634]] down payment on a car, for the police officer that is looking forward to that money to pay for her child's tuition. I think that that is wrong, and I am pleased to see within the last few hours that another person who thinks it is wrong is Governor George Bush of Texas, who said ``I don't think they ought to balance their budget on the backs of the poor.'' Another Texan responded to that, an indication of the problems we have here in this House. The majority whip, my colleague from Texas (Mr. DeLay), is reported to have said ``It is obvious that Governor Bush needs a little education on how Congress works. I don't think he knew what he was talking about.'' I happen to believe that when you choose between these two Texas Republicans, Governor Bush has the better of it, and the American people will have the worst of it, if this Congress proceeds next week to balance the budget on the backs of those people who are there working hard trying to make ends meet, entitled to receive this earned income tax credit, House Republicans would deny working families from receiving that refund on a timely basis in the way that they have in prior years in what even Ronald Reagan called one of the ``most effective anti-poverty programs we have,'' the earned income tax credit. Because of their irresponsibility, because of their failure to budget in a proper and timely way, Republicans have turned to this gimmick. Mr. Speaker, let us hope the House will reject it next week. ____________________