FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 09, 2003

CONTACT: Brendan Daly (202)225-0100

Pelosi: 'Irresponsible GOP Tax Cut for Millionaires Leaves Working Families Out In the Cold'

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke on the floor of the House this afternoon in strong opposition to the House Republican Tax Bill. Below is a transcript of her remarks:

“Mr. Speaker, today the House of Representatives has a very historic decision to make. Other speakers have referenced the sacrifice of our young men and women in uniform in Iraq and the gratitude we have to them for the sacrifice they were willing to make.

“They were successful in their mission. Our mission is to build a future worthy of their sacrifice. That cannot be done by voting for the reckless, irresponsible proposal put forth by the Republican majority on this floor today.

“The distinguished Majority Leader said we didn’t have a plan until yesterday. We had a plan the day before the President had a plan in January. A plan that was fair, fast acting, and fiscally sound.

“And the plan we brought to the Rules Committee yesterday was consistent with those provisions and those principles.

“But so frightened were the Republicans of the truth on this floor, that they would not allow the Democratic plan for job creation and economic growth to be brought to this floor.

“So frightened were they of the truth that they have tried to silence the voice of over 100 million people in our country who are represented on this side of the aisle.

“We’re building a visitors center outside for people to come and witness democracy. What do we tell them when we say that so many Americans cannot have their voices heard on this floor around the debate of a proposal for economic growth and job creation?

“This day is an historic day. In many ways a sad day. And I’d like to put it in perspective.

“Ten years ago, faced with a struggling economy and a growing deficit, a new Congress and a new President courageously passed a budget bill that took us on a path to fiscal soundness. The stock markets responded, the economy prospered, and we had a record of economic growth that is unsurpassed in our nation’s history.

“We did that with Democratic votes only. Not one Republican was willing to step up to the plate for fiscal soundness and economic growth and job creation.

“At the end of the Clinton Administration, 22 million new jobs had been created, the country was on a path to a record surplus of $5.6 trillion, and the unemployment rate was at an all-time low. To achieve that, it took leadership and it took courage.

“Mr. Speaker, the debate today is about leadership. Sadly, that leadership is lacking from both President Bush and from the Republican Congress.

“What a difference two years make. President Bush and the Republicans in Congress have presided over the most dramatic deterioration in our economic health in our nation’s history.

“Since President Bush took office, we have gone from the strongest economy ever in the United States to a weak, struggling economy that was described by the Majority Leader just a moment ago. We have gone from historically low unemployment rates to losing 2.7 million jobs in the first two years of the President’s term. In fact, it’s 27 months, 2.7 million jobs- the worst record of job creation in nearly six decades.

“I call your attention, my colleagues, to this chart. Every president since World War II is on the up side of the line of job creation. Every president except one - George W. Bush.

“President Clinton, 22 million jobs in 8 years. President Bush, losing 2.7 million jobs in the first two years of his term. That was the result of his failed economic policy. And what is his answer to this record unemployment? The same warmed-over stew, the same recipe for economic disaster.

“This number, 563, drives home the point in a personal way. Since President Bush became President, every working hour of every working day 563 American lose their jobs. A little more than the number of people who serve in the Congress, House and Senate combined, lose their jobs in every working hour of every working day since the President has taken office.

“Under Republican leadership, April’s unemployment rate reached 6 percent, nearly 9 million Americans are out of work - the worst job slump since the Great Depression. Another 9 million Americans have either given up looking for work at all or are working part time.

“That’s why today is so tragic. Tragedy is about missed opportunities. We have an opportunity today to create jobs and build a strong economy without endangering our fiscal responsibility.

“Instead, the reckless tax plan the President and the Republicans in Congress have set forth is not only irresponsible in its substance, it is irresponsible in the bad example that the President and the White House has set. They created a feeding frenzy of tax cuts trying to outdo each other, making matters worse.

“That’s what is lacking in their leadership. It is not leadership to grow the economy and create jobs, but a bad example to take us on the opposite course.

“So instead of having our plan on the floor today, which is fast acting in creating jobs, fair in who benefits from it, and fiscally sound, a plan that is paid for. Instead we have a reckless tax plan that the President has proposed.

“None of these proposals -- the President’s, the House Republicans, the Senate Republicans -- none of them is affordable. They do not create jobs, and certainly in no way are commensurate with the cost involved.

“Give them the benefit of the doubt. They keep saying they are going to create 550,000 new jobs. Fewer jobs than were lost in January and February of this year and at the cost of a tax bill of $550 billion, a cost of a million dollars a job.

“Where is the fiscal soundness in that? Where is the taxpayer getting his or her money’s worth?

“The Republican plan spends every penny of the Social Security Trust Fund that comes in over the next decade, just as the Baby Boomers begin to retire.

“This is so irresponsible, but don’t just take my word for it.

“The Committee for Economic Development, the 60-year-old independent group of business and civic leaders, calls the President’s tax cuts ‘arsenic poisoning for the economy,’ which worsen ‘a fiscal crisis that threatens our future standard of living.’

“Four hundred economists, including 10 Nobel Laureates, warn that ‘passing these tax cuts will worsen the long-term budget outlook, adding to the nation's projected chronic deficits’ and will ‘reduce the capacity of the government to finance Social Security and Medicare benefits as well as investments in schools, health, and infrastructure.’

“The American people want, they expect -- and they deserve -- an economic recovery plan that is fair, fast acting, and fiscally responsible.

“The Republican tax cuts fail on all three counts. They are profoundly unfair to working families. They do not create jobs.

“Even the President’s own economic advisors admit his plan will not create enough jobs to make up for those lost in the first two months of this year, much less in the past two years.

“And the Republican tax cuts are a fiscal budgetary disaster.

“Now Republicans claim that historic deficits somehow do not matter, that they will be erased by a growing economy. But Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before Congress: ‘There’s no question that as deficits go up, contrary to what some have said, it does affect long-term interest rates. It does have a negative impact on the economy.’ And he added, ‘Economic growth alone cannot be safely counted upon to eliminate deficits.’

“Americans need to understand what these huge Republican deficits will mean for the future of this country.

“The President’s own projections show that the interest we will pay on the national debt will exceed all discretionary spending, foreclosing the opportunity to make critical and necessary investments in the future - again, in education, homeland security, health care for seniors, transportation, and in the environment for years to come.

With that Mr. Speaker, I want to say that it is within power in this body for us to do what is right for the American people. It is within our power to support, although the Republicans will not let us bring it to the floor, a Democratic plan for real job creation and economic growth -- one that actually creates jobs and economic growth now and is fully paid for.

“The Democratic plan stands in stark contrast to the Republican recklessness.

“The Democratic plan again is fair. It gives tax cuts to all taxpayers, including those most likely to spend it - low and middle-income working families.

“One of our colleagues on the other side said earlier our answer to this is to spend more money. Our plan is paid for. And those initiatives to help small businesses, which in turn create jobs and create capital, are fiscally sound.

“Our support for extending the unemployment benefit is the most dynamic investment we can make. It injects demand into the economy, putting purchasing power into the hands of working families, especially those who are out of work and are going to purchase necessities.

“We get $1.73 of value for every dollar spent on unemployment benefit extensions. We get nine cents for every dollar spent on the dividend tax exclusion.

“So my colleagues, that is the choice America faces. That is the choice we should be able to vote on today.

“But the Republican leaders know that our plan is fair, fast-acting and fiscally responsible, so they will not even allow us to bring it to the floor of this House, the people’s House, for an up or down vote.

“The Republican plan harms the economy and repeats the failed policies that have deepened this job slump. Instead of investing in our children, the Republican plan indebts them.

“Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this reckless, irresponsible Republican tax cut for millionaires that leaves working families out in the cold.”

“I urge my colleagues to say to no to raiding the Social Security Trust Fund.

“I urge my colleagues to say no to indebting our children instead of investing in them and their future.

“I urge my colleagues to say no to the unfairness of this Republican tax plan that overly benefits those who need it least at the expense of working families of America, job creation, and economic growth.

“And I urge my colleagues to reject their plan because it is not true, and it is not faithful to our mission to make a future worthy of the sacrifice made by our young men and women so recently for our country.

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”

“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi