mr. speaker , i want to thank the gentleman from new york ( mr. rangel ) xz4003330 for offering this motion to recommit today . 
the rangel motion to recommit is about two things : truth in budgeting and truth in borrowing . 
in almost 14 years now on the ways and means committee , we have spoken of addressing the alternative minimum tax issue . 
there has been a lot of talk and not a lot of action . 
and you are going to hear in a couple of seconds , well , yesterday , we took up the alternative minimum tax . 
what we did yesterday was a procedural maneuver that allowed everybody to cover themselves , but will have very little reality as it addresses alternative minimum tax . 
the gentleman from new york 's motion to recommit goes right to the heart of the matter . 
you can , in a few minutes , cast a vote on really doing something about alternative minimum tax . 
now , the next thing we are going to hear today is this : the democrats were in charge for 40 years and did not address the alternative minimum tax issue . 
in 1994 , a couple of 100 , 000 people paid alternative minimum tax in america . 
on january 1 , that number kicks up , next year , to 19 million people who will begin to pay alternative minimum tax . 
mr. rangel 's proposal addresses this issue , and we pay for it , as i indicated at the outset of my remarks , honestly . 
the dividends and capital gains proposal does not even expire until the year 2008 . 
and yet , we are doing that instead of doing alternative minimum tax . 
now , this congress had time , in the last 5 years , to repeal a series of taxes on the american people , all , by the way , for upper income groups . 
we certainly had plenty of time to repeal the estate tax . 
we had time to address dividends and capital gains . 
but we did not have time to address alternative minimum tax other than with band-aid approaches . 
today , you have a chance to do something . 
mr. rangel 's proposal lacks complexity . 
you can , in the next couple of minutes , choose between fixing amt or extending dividends and capital gains cuts for the wealthiest among us . 
and by the way , when we hear the other side say that these cuts to middle income people for dividends and capital gains , the dividend proposal that they have ought to be understood embrace mr. rangel 's proposal . 
give him a positive vote on amt . 
but most importantly , give those 19.3 million americans next year some much needed relief in alternative minimum tax . 
