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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Kate Dwyer
June 28, 2001	(202) 225-3031

WASHINGTON – First District Congressman Paul Ryan has introduced legislation to make permanent the broad tax relief signed into law earlier this month by President Bush.  Ryan's bill would correct for the sunset provision included in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which requires that the tax reductions expire in 2011. Although the tax reductions in this legislation were intended to last, rather than sunset in 2011, a procedural rule in the Senate forced congressional tax relief proponents to work within a ten-year window, making the tax relief temporary.

Ryan's legislation would allow taxpayers to benefit permanently from tax rate reductions, marriage tax penalty relief, expansion of the child tax credit, elimination of the death tax, increased contribution limits for Education Savings Accounts and tax-favored retirement accounts, and other components of the tax relief package.

"The tax relief that Congress passed and the President signed into law was a big step in the right direction," Ryan said. "After following through on our commitment to protecting Social Security and Medicare and paying down the debt, this new law allows overtaxed Americans to keep more of their own hard-earned money. But in order to maximize the good that it can do, we need to make sure this tax relief doesn't disappear in 2011," Ryan said.

"The sunset provision of the tax relief package defies the original intent of that legislation and makes it virtually impossible for people and small businesses to plan ahead from a tax standpoint," Ryan said. "Taxpayers should not pay the consequences ten years from now because of an esoteric Senate rule."

"To strengthen our economy and create more job opportunities, we need lasting, across-the-board tax relief paired with fiscal discipline," Ryan said.

Ryan yesterday introduced his legislation – H.R. 2327 – to make the President's tax relief package permanent.

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