FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

In order for the Treasury to be prepared to send tax relief to the American people quickly, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill yesterday approved the purchase of paper necessary to print and mail checks for the retroactive portion of the President's tax cut.

"I'm hopeful the Congress will vote on tax relief by June 1," O'Neill said. "The Treasury Department will be ready, willing and able to implement the President's tax relief plan as soon as Congress acts."

Congress has now agreed to send a portion of this year's budget surplus back to taxpayers this year. The Senate budget resolution included $85 billion for this purpose. Secretary O'Neill has ordered the IRS to consider how they would implement such a tax refund, should Congress include one as it considers the President's tax relief plan.

Secretary O'Neill yesterday gave approval for the Financial Management Service to pre-purchase the paper on which the refund checks will be printed and the envelopes in which the checks will be mailed. The purchase may cost up to $4 million, and much of the paper could be used for other purposes in the event Congress does not authorize refund checks.

"It's important to enact the President's tax relief plan quickly to give the slowing economy a much needed second wind," said Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. "We're working to put money back in the hands of the people who earned it, and to do it this year."