mr. speaker , because the republican tax bill raises the deficit $ 3 trillion and because of the valuable aspect of the substitute deductions for state and local retail taxes and other provisions for working americans , i rise in support of the substitute and oppose the underlying bill . 
mr. speaker , we have before us a very important piece of legislation , h.r. 4297 , the tax reconciliation act . 
it is very important to understand this piece of legislation within the big picture the republicans are painting here . 
just last month , the republicans passed a bill called `` the deficit reduction act. '' this was a spending cut bill that slashed funding to many vital programs my constituents depend on , including to medicaid , student loans , food stamps , and child support programs . 
the republicans lectured us on the need to make sacrifices to control the national debt . 
by passing the spending cut bill , the republicans actually asked the poor , the downtrodden , the disabled and the young to sacrifice on behalf of the rest of the country . 
now we are faced with the tax reconciliation act , which will actually add $ 86 billion dollars to the deficit over the next 5 years . 
this proposed tax cut will not help the poor and middle class , either . 
an estimated 40 percent of the tax cuts will go to families with incomes of $ 1 million or more , and 84 percent of the major tax cuts in this bill will go to the richest 20 percent of families . 
in fact , under this bill , over 17 million middle class americans will face a tax increase next year from the alternative minimum tax ( the amt ) ! 
an important aspect of this bill is the house 's failure to adequately address the amt . 
the alternative minimum tax was enacted over 35 years ago enacted to ensure that the richest americans would pay their fair share of income tax . 
unfortunately , when the amt was enacted , congress neglected to index the tax rates to inflation . 
the amt has now begun to add extra burden to middle class taxpayers at an alarming rate . 
the senate bill provides $ 30 billion for amt relief to the middle class , while the house republican leadership could only find $ 2.8 billion for this cause . 
republicans could n't find the money to adequately pay for amt relief for the middle class . 
they ca n't find any money for tax relief for those affected by hurricane katrina in the gulf coast . 
last month , republicans could n't find the money to spare the elderly from medicaid cuts , to spare the students from loan increases , or spare our children from child care cuts . 
they could n't find the money because they are choosing to extend the dividend and capital gains tax cuts for the richest in our country . 
they also choose to pass the burden of paying for these tax cuts on to our children in the form of a huge deficit . 
this is not how we take care of our own in texas , and this is not how we do things in the united states . 
the republicans are launching an unabashed attack on the american way by ignoring the neediest in our country to give tax cuts to the richest . 
the democrats have instead offered an amendment in the form of the substitute that is much more fiscally responsible and equitable . 
the democratic substitute extends for one year all temporary tax provisions that expire at the end of this year , similar to the majority 's bill . 
the major difference , however is that the democratic substitute addresses the problem of the amt by eliminating all liabilities for middle class individuals . 
this will reduce the number of individuals that pay the amt next year by 16 million people , to just over 3 million people . 
this provision would cost about $ 45 billion dollars , but would be fully offset by rolling back a portion of the tax cuts that would otherwise go to those with annual incomes of over $ 1 million for joint returns and $ 500 , 000 for other returns . 
the democratic substitute , unlike the republican option , is a fiscally responsible bill that goes to help those who really need it instead of the very rich . 
mr. speaker , the decision to vote up or down on this legislation is n't a blurry line involving political ideology ; it is n't a debate of republican vs . 
democratic philosophy . 
the priorities in the republican bill are misguided . 
congress should not be providing additional tax breaks for the rich less than a month after huge spending cuts aimed at the most vulnerable . 
in the end , this tax bill will either exacerbate our already large federal deficits , or will force even deeper cuts in critically important domestic programs . 
i am strongly opposed to this legislation , and i implore my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote against these unreasonable cuts and instead consider the revenue neutral democratic alternative . 
