FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill made the following statement after House passage of H.Con.Res. 83, the Budget Resolution Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2002:

Broad-based tax relief, one of the major elements of the President's policy prescriptions for America, took another important step forward today as the House voted to support a final budget including $1.35 trillion in tax relief, with retroactive relief this year to give the economy a much needed second wind.

Americans are paying a higher tax burden today than at any time in our nation's history. The President has made it a top priority to reduce the tax burden to allow working Americans to keep more of what they earn. The President also made it a top priority to make the tax code more fair by reducing the marriage penalty, eliminating the death tax, and increasing the child credit. Steep tax rates drain the economy's vitality and rob small business owners of the cash flow they need to maintain their employment when the economy is struggling, and to grow in the more prosperous times to come. In fact, 77% of the tax relief associated with cutting the top rate would go to small business owners and entrepreneurs--fundamental engines of growth in our economy.

Now we turn our attention to the Senate. I call on the Senate to act quickly, so that we can put legislation enacting substantial tax relief for all taxpayers on the President's desk by the end of this month, and put money back in the pockets of hard-working Americans as quickly as possible.