mr. speaker , i rise in strong support of this very modest tax relief proposal and the rule that brings it to the floor , and especially in support of the deduction for state and local sales taxes which is so very important to my home state of tennessee and many millions of people throughout this nation .  every day we read stories about how wasteful the federal government is , and certainly it has been proven over and over again how the least efficient , most wasteful way to spend money is to turn it over to the federal government .  every dollar we can keep in the private sector helps to create jobs and lower prices .  and who benefits the most from job creation and lower prices : the poor and the lower-income and the working people .  the wealthy are always going to be all right , but this is a bill that helps the poor and the lower-income and the working people more than anybody else .  it contains breaks for the rich like tax deductions for teacher classroom expenses , expenses that classroom teachers pay out of their own pockets .  it contains another deduction for the rich for deducting tuition expenses .  that is certainly a deduction for the wealthy ; and , of course , i am saying that sarcastically .  it contains expensing for brownfield environmental cleanups , something that is very good for the environment .  it contains breaks for our veterans and those who have been and are in combat at this time .  it contains increases for small businesses , and certainly that is something that is very , very important to millions of people throughout this country .  mr. speaker , this is a very modest proposal .  i think it is about a 2 percent tax break .  i urge passage of this bill .  