Charlie Rangel

Mr. RANGEL

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Bonior), our distinguished Democratic whip.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Berry). (Mr. BERRY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Frost), chairman of the Democratic Caucus.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kind). (Mr. KIND asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

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

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Edwards). (Mr. EDWARDS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Kleczka) a respected member of the Committee on Ways and Means who, too, was excluded from the conference. I might add that all respected Democrats were excluded. (Pursuant to a subsequent order of the House by unanimous consent of Mr. Kleczka, the remarks of Mr. Kleczka have been deleted.)

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 Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Thurman), a respected member of the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman has said it all, we have not gotten the check yet and he is putting out the tax cut. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Tanner), a member of the committee.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), a member of the committee. (Mr. LEVIN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. McNulty), a member of the committee and my colleague from New York.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal). (Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay). (Mr. CLAY asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Clement). (Mr. CLEMENT asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cardin), a member of the committee.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I was really moved by the chairman's speech, almost to the extent that I would think that he would think this is on the level here. The theme of this is let us get this money out of Washington before the politicians in Washington spend the taxpayers' money. This is like the theme, ``Stop me before I kill again.'' Mr. Speaker, at the last count, even though it is dwindling, the Republicans are in charge. We cannot stop them. They may kill again. We watch them every day. So we know they are out of control. But do not just say spend the money. Send the money back that they have not got. Now, first of all, the gentleman from Texas (Chairman Archer) said, when the Republicans came into office, they had great ideas. They have been in office and the leadership for 5\1/2\ years attempting to pull the tax code up by the roots. Now, the last we saw of the tax code, we cannot get a truck to bring that bill over from the Senate over to the Committee on Rules. It is loaded with fertilizer. So what are they pulling up by the roots? This is something that they really should not want to go home and campaign on, except if they know it is not on the level, and except if they know it is going to be vetoed, and except if they know that, after they finish all this work, they are not going to take it to the President. Why would they not put this bill on the President's desk until after Labor Day? Answer: it is not a bill. It is a piece of campaign literature. It is a lobbyist's wish list. It is Christmas in July, and the President is supposed to be the scrooge and veto it and deny the Republican contributors the things that they wanted to give them. Give us a break. If my colleagues really wanted a tax bill, they would have found at least one Democrat in the House they could have trusted, one Democrat in the Senate that they could have trusted. They could have brought in the administration for a trillion dollars. It is not a Republican thing; it is something that we should work with in a bipartisan way. So I am suggesting that my colleagues have taken one big political crapshoot in what they have done, and it is my belief that they are going to pay for this with their campaign bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, we cannot pay off our debts, take care of Medicare, take care of Social Security.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, everybody wants a tax cut. But some of us believe that we are paying off our debts first.

Mr. RANGEL. Everybody wants a tax cut.

Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from California can tell the people that he works with, those shelters, that ``Rangel is coming for you.''

Mr. RANGEL. I yield to the gentleman from California.