For Immediate Release
Contact: Joan Kirchner
202-224-3643

January 22, 2001

Statement of Senator Zell Miller
on Tax Cut Legislation

Washington - U.S. Senator Zell Miller (D-GA) and Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX)  announced the introduction of bipartisan legislation implementing President Bush's tax cut. The following is Senator Miller's statement at the news conference.

"I'm very pleased to join with Senator Gramm as a sponsor of this important  piece of legislation, first because it is an opportunity to reach across party lines and really practice bi-partisanship, not just talk about it. But I'm even more pleased to be a co-sponsor because of the far-reaching consequences of this bill.

Right now, our taxes have never been higher. Right now,  our surplus has never been greater. To me, it's just common sense  you deal with the first by using the second. 

Remember that old Elvis Presley song, "Return to Sender."  Well, that's what we want to do with this overpayment of taxes.

As some of you know, I've been in politics for a long time, and I thought I had seen it all. But when I came to Washington last year I was not prepared for the shock of just how matter-of-factly Congress ate into the surplus, gobbled it up indiscriminately and without hesitation on both sides of the aisle. 

I couldn't believe it and it became clear to me that if  we don't send this overpayment of taxes back to those who paid it, much of it will be frittered away, and I think most Americans have enjoyed as much of that as they can stand.

Some of my colleagues talk of "targeted" tax cuts, and I respect their opinion. I respect  them. But here's how I think about that: who are we to pick and choose and cull and select and single out among our taxpayers.

Who are we to play "eeny, meany, miney, mo," with them.  All of them combined have paid more than it takes to run this government. And all of them combined should get a break from this oppressive tax structure of ours.

This plan would make our tax code more progressive by cutting federal income taxes for people all across the income spectrum, and the largest percentage cuts would go to those Americans who earn the least.  Under this proposal, six million families will no longer pay any federal income taxes at all.  That's one out of five families with children. 

Any time I look at a tax cut, I always apply it to the family I grew up in: a single parent with two children.  Under the current rate, that single parent begins paying taxes when she earns $21,300.  Under this plan, she would not become a taxpayer until her earnings reach $31,300.

Lower taxes give Americans a better chance at a better standard of living.  It can mean the difference between renting or buying a home. Today, it can be the difference between being able, or not being able, to pay your heating bill.

No one in America should have to work more than four months out of a year to pay the IRS, and in peacetime, the federal government should never take more than 33% out of anyone's pay check.

I also believe this tax cut could help provide some needed insurance against a long-lasting economic slow down. But most importantly, and why I'm here, is that I agree with  President Bush that the taxpayers are much better judges of how to spend their own money than we are.

When I was governor of Georgia, I was proud that in my state we cut taxes by more than a billion dollars.  As a U. S. Senator, I'm looking forward to cutting taxes in this nation by more than a trillion dollars."

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