mr. speaker , today we have the opportunity to pass a bill that i believe will provide a powerful tonic for continued economic growth as a precedent for social justice .  since 2003 , when much of the current tax policies were enacted , our gdp has seen its fastest growth in 20 years , averaging a robust 4.4 percent growth per quarter .  this growth , mr. speaker , is attributable in part to reduced rates on capital gains and dividends .  i would like to highlight who in the real world is receiving these reduced rates and , therefore , whose taxes we will be raising if we fail to extend these existing policies .  mr. speaker , 54 percent of those families receiving dividend income had incomes of less than $ 75 , 000 , and they received an average of $ 1 , 400 in dividends .  today , families with incomes under $ 100 , 000 have more than $ 20 billion in dividend income .  in 2005 , an estimated 10.3 million families in the 10 and 15 percent tax brackets will save on their taxes because of the existing tax policies .  so the rhetoric that this tax relief only benefits the wealthy is vacant , ideological posturing .  to let these rates expire would simply be a tax increase on the productive sector of the american economy .  not only would the lapse of the reduced rates impose a tax increase ; it would particularly discourage equity ownership among working families , among whom we have seen a 91 percent increase in stock ownership .  to turn back the clock on our tax policies that have benefited american workers and encourage more american workers to own a stake in their future is simply the wrong thing to do .  mr. speaker , those who oppose this legislation are asking for a perverse tax increase on the seed corn of our economy and are suggesting that we impose a drag on economic growth at a time when we need it the most .  we can not afford not to pass this legislation today if we are serious about growing our economy .  