WASHINGTON, DC -- The Republican leadership may be going along with part of an amendment that says Congress won't cut taxes until on the road towards balancing the budget, according to Congressman Collin C. Peterson (DFL-7th District).
"There are about 50 members working to get this amendment passed, and the Republican members that are working with The Coalition on this have told us that the leadership may be agreeable to the first part of our amendment," Peterson said. "That part says that the laws that will balance the budget have to be in place for one year before the tax cuts can go into affect.
"It's the second part of the amendment that isn't gaining much ground among Republicans. That says that Congress must meet a target for deficit reduction every year, and if the deficit is higher than that target, the cuts would be suspended immediately."
Those targets are $150 billion in Fiscal Year 1996, $125 billion in FY 97, $100 billion in FY 98, $75 billion in FY 99, $50 billion in FY 2000, and $25 billion in FY 2001.
"But we are not going to back off on this. Negotiations will continue over the weekend, and it is my hope that by the time we start debating the tax cut bill, the Republicans will have realized that they need to incorporate our language into the bill in order to pass it."