Charlie Rangel

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Vermont (Mr. Sanders).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, it amazes me the lack of confidence that these Republicans have in their leadership as relates to spending, but they know best. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who served in the State Finance Committee before she came to the Congress. (Ms. LEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks, and include extraneous material.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy). (Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson), the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus. (Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Stark), a senior member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. RANGEL. Well, the gentleman is not yielding then. That is parliamentary. It is impossible for him to do that. Has the gentleman from California no sense of how this House is supposed to operate? How can the gentleman yield to me on my time? I asked the gentleman to yield. That is unfair.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, would the distinguished and articulate chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means yield?

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would note that the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) did not mention the Republican President that I assume is still trying to be bipartisan. Mr. Speaker, as we have said, we all would like to have a tax cut. Some of us believe that it should be responsible; all of us hope that it would be bipartisan. We want it to be fair, we want it to be honest, we do not want the hidden costs, as we see with the major bill that is on this floor today. We think that it is unfair that 44 percent of the tax bill that is before us would go to 1 percent of the taxpayers, and those other people who make over $373,000 each year. What we have done is created a new 12 percent rate bracket for the first $20,000 of taxable income; and truly, all people would enjoy some type of tax relief. But another issue which I hope will be discussed during the debate is that Republicans like to say, if you do not pay income taxes, do not expect an income tax return. Well, for 80 percent of the hard-working people that pay payroll taxes, they think it is a tax on their income. They work hard every day, and they do not get any relief under this bill. So we do not tinker and stop the flow of the money to Social Security or to Medicare, but we do create in our substitute an expansion of the earned income tax credit, so that we would provide a cushion for these hard-working people. The Republican bill does not deal with the marriage penalty. What we do is create a double standard deduction that is twice the standard deduction that would be available to the single people. I admit that we are concerned about the people that are in high- income States too, because under the Republican bill, the deductibility of local and State taxes will be prevented by a mechanism that is referred to as the alternative minimum tax. We raised this to the chairman, but the Republicans obviously say ``manana,'' or tomorrow, they will take care of it. They will take care of the estate taxes, they will take care of the marriage penalty, they will take care of the deficit that might result as a result of their bill. So I am hoping that at this time we would reject the Republican bill that is before us. It is not bipartisan; it has not been discussed with us. We think that this substitute is fiscally responsible; we think it is fair; we think it is honest; and, unlike H.R. 3, we think that it warrants the support of Republicans and Democrats, and we urge our colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Spratt), the ranking Democrat on the Committee on the Budget. (Mr. SPRATT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Luther).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I offer an amendment in the nature of a substitute on behalf of myself, the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Pomeroy); the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin); the gentleman from California (Mr. Honda); the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis); the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Carson); and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Gephardt), the Democratic leader.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sandlin) to close debate.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Hill).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Kennedy). (Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Jefferson), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin). (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Meehan).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price).

Mr. RANGEL. No, because I think it is very clear what we are doing. The gentleman is making it cloudy.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley).