Rob Portman

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal) for a good debate here on the floor, and I yield the remainder of our time to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), the majority leader. There is no Member of Congress in leadership or otherwise, Mr. Speaker, who is more committed to passage of this legislation and has been more helpful to it than the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey).

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Maryland (Mrs. Morella), for the purpose of entering into a colloquy.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Weller), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, who has played a leadership role on the catch-up contributions and the 415 provisions. (Mr. WELLER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Dunn) a member of the Committee on Ways and Committee, who has taken a leadership role in assuring there is a catch-up contribution, both on the pension side and on the IRA contributions.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Mrs. Johnson), who, as chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight, was one of the people who helped draft this legislation, and continues to be very important to focusing this legislation on defined benefit plans and on small businesses.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Steve Gibbs, a dear friend and community leader who will be recognized on April 21, 2001 by the FreeStore/FoodBank for 26 years of service with the organization. The FreeStore/FoodBank was founded in Cincinnati in 1971. Steve has been a vital part of the organization as President and CEO nearly since its inception 30 years ago. Thanks to his dedication and hard work, the FreeStore/FoodBank has blossomed from a small, one-man operation into a thriving enterprise that literally has helped millions of people throughout Cincinnati, northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana. The mission of the FreeStore/FoodBank is ``to provide food, products and services for those in need, and to further their self-reliance.'' As one of the largest foodbanks in Ohio, it helps to feed nearly 300,000 people in our area each year. It also provides clothes and housing and employment assistance to the needy, and fills the pantry shelves of over 550 agencies, soup kitchens and shelters with donated food. Last year, it distributed close to 9 million pounds of donated and salvaged food, valued at more than $22 million. Also serving as President of the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks, Steve's vision and ability to link sometimes unlikely partners also has helped to launch a number of innovative programs that continue to serve the needs of our community. One such partnership includes a joint venture between the FreeStore/FoodBank and the University of Cincinnati's Health Resource Center to provide medical care to those who cannot afford it. Among other initiatives, he also established a relationship with Goodwill Industries to help increase donations. Thanks to Steve's efforts, the FreeStore/FoodBank is often recognized as one of Cincinnati's most outstanding charitable organizations. All of us in the Cincinnati area thank Steve for his dedication to improving the lives of others.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. That is correct, Mr. Speaker. We do not expect votes on Thursday or Friday of next week.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan. I am from Cincinnati, Ohio; therefore, not in the Final Four. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the House has completed its legislative business for this week. The House will meet next for legislative business on Tuesday, April 3, at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 o'clock for legislative business. The House will consider a number of measures under suspension of the rules, a list of which will be distributed to Members' offices tomorrow. On Tuesday, we expect no recorded votes before 6 o'clock p.m. Mr. Speaker, the Committee on Ways and Means will meet this afternoon shortly to consider H.R. 8, the Death Tax Elimination Act. It is my expectation that that bill will be ready for consideration in the House on Wednesday, April 4. That being the case, the vote on the Death Tax Elimination Act in the House next Wednesday would be our last vote for the week heading into the Spring District Work Period. I thank the gentleman from Michigan for yielding to me.

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, there may be additional measures other than H.R. 8. It is my understanding that nothing else is scheduled at this point, but there may be other business before the House.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include any extraneous material on H.R. 6, the bill just passed.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns on Friday, March 30, 2001, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3, for morning hour debates.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman for yielding me this time. Mr. Chairman, I want to address some of the concerns that have been raised by the other side of the aisle about the budget we are voting on today. This budget does protect Social Security and Medicare actually in ways that we have never done before as a Congress. It truly takes the trust funds and protects them for the future for generations to come. It also for the first time in our Nation's history really does do something about the debt. We pay off more national debt under this budget than Congress has ever done before. In fact, we pay down all of the available national debt. We also, despite what we have heard from the other side and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hinojosa) just talked about education, we increase funding significantly for education. We are going to improve our public schools under this budget with, again, an increase in education spending that is significantly higher than Congress had traditionally done. In fact, overall, if one looks at the spending for education and other items on the domestic discretionary side, we increase spending by 4.5 percent, well above inflation. After we do all that, protect Social Security and Medicare, increase funding for education, pay down the national debt, strengthen our national defense significantly, there is still money left on the table. I heard a story today about a woman in Iowa who spoke up at a town meeting and said, You know, I make cookies for my kids; and when the cookies are left on the table, something happens to them. They get eaten. We do not want to leave more cookies on the table to get eaten by a bigger and bigger Federal Government. We do not want a bigger, a more intrusive Federal Government. We want to be able to give the taxpayers some money back of the $5.6 trillion surplus we are now building up here in Washington projected over the next 10 years. The gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht), the speaker before me on the Republican side, talked about how this projection is actually conservative. The vote today is whether we are going to let those taxpayers keep a little of that hard-earned money. We are saying, we are proposing that they ought to be able to keep a little less than 28 percent of that surplus, remember, every dime of which was created by the hard-working taxpayers of this country. That is what we are saying. We are saying, at the end of the day, after we have taken care of all of these other priorities, we ought to let the people who are paying the bill, who are pulling the wagon, who created all this surplus keep a little of that hard-earned money for their own lives and their own decisions. We have got to do it now to help this economy. Mr. Chairman, I just want to make the point again that this is a big debate between Republicans and Democrats. It is a debate that is raging around the country, and it comes down to how big Washington is going to be, how big is our spending going to be on more and more government, or are we going to let people keep more of their money. With job losses around the country, including in my own district, with the potential of a recession looming, we have got to not only let people keep a little more of their hard-earned money, but we have to as a Congress stimulate economic growth and get this economy back on its feet to ensure we have jobs. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the budget proposal before us today and reject the Democrat alternative.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, because I attended the Conference of the Speakers of the G-8 Parliaments with House Speaker Dennis Hastert in Rome, Italy, I missed the following Rollcall votes on March 22, 2001; Rollcall vote No. 56, on the Motion to Adjourn. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay.'' On Rollcall No. 57, passage of H. Res. 93, I would have voted ``yea.'' On Rollcall No. 58, passage of H.R. 1099, I would have voted ``yea.'' on Rollcall No. 59, passage of H.R. 802, I would have voted ``yea.'' On Rollcall No. 60, the Traficant amendment to H.R. 247, I would have voted ``aye.'' On Rollcall No. 61, passage of H.R. 247, I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nussle) and congratulate him on a great budget. I also want to respond a little bit to some of the points that have been made tonight. Let me start by saying that my colleagues on this side of the aisle have done a good job, I think, in setting out the principles of this budget and making clear that it does, in fact, meet our national priorities. It increases funding for our public schools, it strengthens our national defense, it protects Medicare and Social Security in ways that we have never done before in this Congress. It truly protects the trust funds. It does things that I think are necessary in terms of paying back the public debt. We just heard the debt talked about. The fact is this budget retires more public debt than we have ever done before as a Congress. In fact, it pays back all. All of the available public debt is going to be paid down under this budget. At the end of the day, after all those priorities are met, after the debt is paid down, Social Security and Medicare protected, our national defense strengthened, there is still money left on the table. And that money left on the table those of us on this side of the aisle believe very strongly ought to go back to the hard-working taxpayers that created every dime of that $5.61 trillion budget surplus. Is it too much to ask that we allow folks who paid every dime of that surplus to keep about 28 percent of it, a little less? That is what we are proposing here tonight. It is about $1.62 trillion that would go back to the folks who created every dime of that surplus. We think everyone ought to get that tax relief. We think every hard-working taxpayer deserves it. It is interesting to look at the statistics. We now have the highest rate as a percentage of our GDP, our economy, in taxation than we have had in this country since World War II. In fact, if we go back before World War II, we will not find taxes that high. We also have a faltering economy. We have an economy that could use a tax cut to boost economic growth and keep us from going into a recession. We also need to do some stuff in terms of addressing concerns in our Tax Code. We need to simplify our code and make it fair. These are all things we can do under the budget allocation we have set aside here for tax relief. I have heard some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle tonight attack the budget with regard to the tax side, saying it is only tax cuts for the rich. We are going to hear that a lot. But let us be clear: This debate tonight is not over what kind of tax cut we have or do not have, it is over how much money is left available in the budget for tax cuts. This Congress can then work its will on that. But I want to address that criticism because it is wrong. If we look at the proposals that have come from the President, the proposals that have come out of the Committee on Ways and Means, those that are likely to come to the floor even later this week, we will see that, in fact, the tax relief we are talking about makes the code fair. It makes the code more progressive, not less progressive. In fact, the wealthiest Americans will pay a higher burden of the taxes in this country, not a lower burden, if we are to pass proposals that have been before the Committee on Ways and Means and that have been proposed by President Bush. Let me give my colleagues an example. A family making $35,000 a year, under the proposals we have seen from President Bush and reported out of the Committee on Ways and Means, would pay no taxes; 100 percent tax cuts. Those making $35,000 a year, families with two kids would pay no Federal income taxes at all. Those making $50,000 a year would get about a 50 percent Federal income tax cut. Those making over $75,000 would get about a 25 percent tax cut. This is something that I think we need to address tonight. If you look at the Bush proposals and the Committee on Ways and Means proposals, in fact the Tax Code will become more progressive. Taxpayers at the higher end will pay a higher burden of the total taxation than they do today. Madam Chairman, I want to say that the chairman of the Committee on Budget has done a great job with this. This budget is fair. What is set aside for tax relief is certainly fair. It allows us to double the child credit, it allows us to eliminate the marriage penalty, it allows us to get rid of the death tax and let every American save more for their own retirement. We have a lot of priorities to address in this Congress, and we do it in this budget. Those priorities ought to make sure that hard-working Americans who created every dime of that surplus get to keep a little more of their hard-earned money. This tax relief makes a lot of sense right now for our economy and for the American taxpayer, the families. It also makes a lot of sense for our government. I urge my colleagues to support this budget and let Americans keep more of what they earn.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the business in order under the Calendar Wednesday rule be dispensed with on Wednesday next.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I offer a resolution (H. Res. 85), and I ask unanimous consent for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns on Monday, March 12, 2001, it adjourn to meet at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13, for morning hour debates.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me this time, and I applaud him for this tax bill, which is a great tax relief effort; and I will be strongly supportive. I want to just respond briefly to what my colleague from Texas said. I have never seen any President, Republican or Democrat, reach out so much to the other side. I look at some of my Democrat colleagues over here, who have been down to the White House with me to meet with the President, and I know they have been down there without me too, so he has reached out. He has tried to bring Democrats and Republicans together, and he has put together, with the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) and the Committee on Ways and Means, a very responsible bill here. First of all, it fits within the budget. The President outlined the budget last week. We are protecting Social Security and Medicare as we never have before. For over 30 years, we raided that trust fund. We are not doing that. We are protecting Social Security and Medicare. We are paying down the debt in a way we never have before. We are paying down more debt in his budget than we ever have in the history of this country. In fact, we are going to pay down all the available debt. So I do not know what people are talking about in terms of the debt. After all that, we are going to have some spending increases in places like education and the military, and still there is room for tax relief for the hard-working American people who created every dime of this big surplus we have. People are overtaxed. We just heard earlier people spend more on taxes now than they do on food, shelter, and clothing combined. We have the highest tax burden since World War II. Taxpayers in Ohio need some relief. I know they do. And they ought to get it. Finally, I want to say that we need to do this for the economy, even if it did not fit in the budget so neatly, even if taxpayers were not so overburdened with taxation. Do any of us want to see us go into a recession? Every economist will tell us that tax relief is going to help the economy. It did when President John Kennedy passed tax relief, which incidentally was much larger than this tax relief. This is about half the size of John Kennedy's tax relief. When Ronald Reagan did it again in 1981, and incidentally it was a lot more than this tax relief, it was about three times higher than this tax relief, it helped the economy. We can disagree on the impact precisely, whether it will help a lot or a little; but we know it will help the economy. In Ohio, people are talking about layoffs. Around the country all the economic data is very troubling. We have to do this tax cut to give this economy a boost, to be sure we can keep the good jobs we have, and expand the economy and continue the prosperity this country has enjoyed over the last decade. Vote for this bill. It is good tax policy, it fits in the budget, people need it, and it is necessary for the economy.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that when the House adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at 2 p.m. on Monday next.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly agree with what the gentleman said with regard to the need to take a look at our election systems. I know that the leadership on this side concurs with that. The hope is that we can soon move forward with a select commission in that regard.

Mr. PORTMAN. I am not aware of any legislation that would be on the floor next week in that regard, although I suppose it is possible. I know that the Speaker and the minority leader are in discussions with regard to the select committee on election reform, but I do not know that there will be anything on the floor next week nor do I think anyone on our side knows at this point.

Mr. PORTMAN. We would expect no such major or what some might consider controversial provisions. That, of course, was waiting for the Senate to act. Once the Senate acted, we acted. There may be, it is my understanding, some other legislative activity that committees are still working to see whether some other things might come to the floor next week, but we would expect nothing along those lines.

Mr. PORTMAN. I thank my friend from Maryland for yielding to me. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the House has now completed its legislative business for this week. The House will next meet for legislative business on Tuesday, March 13, at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 p.m. for legislative business. The House will consider a number of measures under suspension of the rules, a list of which will be distributed to the Members' offices tomorrow, Friday. On Tuesday, no recorded votes are expected before 6 p.m. On Wednesday, March 14, and Thursday, March 15, the House will consider at least the following measures: H.R. 223, the Clear Creek County Land Disposal Act, H.R. 880, the Washington County Land Acquisition Act, and H.R. 725, the Made in America Information Act. Mr. Speaker, again I thank the gentleman for yielding. Of course many of us will be together at the bipartisan retreat this weekend. I hope I will see the gentleman there.

Mr. PORTMAN

Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the outstanding contributions of the Mount Washington American Legion Post 484, which celebrated its 80th anniversary on January 21, 2001. The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic, mutual-help, war-time veterans organization. The Mount Washington American Legion Post 484 opened its chapter 80 years ago, and, since then, it has carried out its mission--to defend and teach the principles of democracy; to uphold the law of the land; to foster patriotism; to venerate, serve and support our veterans; to instill a sense of obligation to the community, state and nation; and to guard the rights and freedoms provided to us by the Constitution. Post 484 has made a remarkable difference in the Cincinnati community by helping to improve the quality of life for our veterans and for others in the Second Congressional District of Ohio. Post 484 currently has about 400 members, many of whom have dedicated their time at Veterans Administration Hospital and Hospice volunteer programs. Its service also includes: volunteer work in our local schools; donations of blood to the Red Cross; environmental protection and crime prevention programs; and fundraising for crisis intervention and family support programs. Post 484 also has raised funds for the Americanism Youth Conference; the Spirit of Youth Fund; flag etiquette and citizenship programs; the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America; and anti-substance abuse, child safety as well as literacy programs. Mr. Speaker, the Mount Washington American Legion Post 484 reminds us that one of the best ways to help individuals and communities is through the hard work and dedication of our local volunteers. These volunteers, who have courageously defended our country, have exhibited an unrelenting service to our country. I hope my colleagues will join me in congratulating Post 484 and its members on 80 years of superb service to the Cincinnati area and to our nation.