The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TAX CUTS” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Senate section on pages S9337-S9338 on July 27, 1999.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TAX CUTS
Ms. LANDRIEU. I come to the floor today to talk about another particular aspect of fiscal responsibility that is so important. We are in the middle of one of the most important debates of this Congress that may have repercussions for the next generation or two, an opportunity that we haven't really had since 1981 when there was a huge tax cut, and, many of us think, an irresponsible tax cut given at that time that drove our deficits tremendously upward and raised the debt of this Nation.
We are now in the process of debating what to do with our great fortune, a real surplus in non-Social Security revenues. We know what we want to do with the Social Security surplus, and that is to set it aside to strengthen this program because it is a value that Americans share. What do we do with the non-Social Security surplus?
I am one of the Members on this side who hope we can find some measure of tax relief for hard-working, middle-income, low-income Americans, to do it in a way that helps to close the gap in this country between the haves and the have-nots, that helps our children in the next generation to become part of this new economy. I hope we can fashion some smaller, responsible, well-thought-through, and careful tax relief for low-income and middle-income families that will help them, their children, and their grandchildren to participate in perhaps the greatest economic boom to ever happen in the history of the world, not just in this Nation, not just in this democracy, not just in this century, but an economic prosperity that is unprecedented in the history of many nations.
What we want to do if we are going to have a tax cut--and I certainly support one that is responsible and along responsible fiscal lines--is to craft it in such a way that it helps to give our children and our grandchildren the opportunity to participate by improving their skills, by improving their opportunity to create their own businesses, by creating perhaps opportunities for them to participate in this new economy.
One of the things that is very important to our generation and to the generations to come is reflected in a new poll that was just released this week by Frank Luntz, commissioned by the Nature Conservancy, about fiscal responsibility. It is also about the Department of Interior, the appropriations bill we are going to be discussing for that Department also this week.
One of the important issues is how we might reallocate surpluses in our continued quest for fiscal responsibility in this Nation, how to direct some of the revenues coming into the Federal Treasury. A great source of revenue that has been coming into the Federal Treasury over the last 50 years at about $4 billion a year--sometimes more, sometimes less--
for a total of $120 billion since 1955 has been money from offshore oil and gas revenues. That money, from the Outer Continental Shelf of the United States, primarily off the shores of Louisiana, contributed to a great deal by Mississippi, Texas, and Alaska, the producing States, has gone in the Federal Treasury and has been used basically for general operating funds.
I and many of my colleagues on this and the other side of the aisle, a bipartisan coalition, think now is the time, as we debate what to do with these surpluses, as we debate how to reallocate some of these revenues, as we debate what are the proper investments to make in the next century regarding tax reductions and investments in education, to talk about making a strong, permanent commitment to our environment.
As the poll results I am going to submit for the Record this afternoon indicate, by a wide majority, Republicans and Democrats, young and old, people who live on the east coast and the west coast, people who live in the flat plains and in the mountains overwhelmingly support a real trust fund and a real commitment to preserve parks, recreation areas, open spaces, and wildlife in this Nation.
That is what one of the bills, S. 25, which has been moving through this process both in the House and the Senate, will do. It would make permanent a source of funding from Outer Continental Shelf revenues within the framework of a balanced budget, in a very fiscally conservative way, by using these revenues that are coming from a nonrenewable resource.
One day these oil and gas wells are going to dry up. I spent my time and energy trying to take some of these tax dollars that are already being paid to invest in something that will last for generations to come, something the American people want to pay for, something the American people believe in; that is, creating open spaces for parks and recreation.
I will submit this polling information for the Record. I rise to speak for a few minutes about the importance of fiscal responsibility, about a tax cut that could be meaningful, if it is done correctly, and about the potential of using some of these dollars--not raise dollars but redirect some of our dollars into a program that is so important to the American people--full funding for land and water conservation, funding for needs of coastal cities and coastal communities, and also wildlife conservation programs throughout the Nation.
I thank the Chair and yield back the remainder of my time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
Mr. TORRICELLI addressed the Chair.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to address the Senate as in morning business for 10 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. TORRICELLI. I thank the Chair.
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