December 15, 1977
Page 39146
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I support the conference report on H.R. 9346, the social security bill.
When this bill was enacted by the Senate, I opposed it due to the costly and unsound amendments that had been added on the floor. These amendments would have deepened the deficit by more than a half billion dollars and would almost certainly have caused the budget ceiling to be breached. I am happy to see, Mr. President, that the conferees have modified or eliminated many of the costly provisions in the Senate bill, so that it now conforms to the assumptions underlying the congressional budget.
I am also pleased to observe that the conference agreement does not provide for any 1978 tax increase above those scheduled to occur under present law. The congressional budget assumed that additional tax increases in 1978 would be avoided in order to prevent a further slowdown in the already sluggish economic recovery in that year.
Congress has to recognize that this bill imposes large tax increases beginning in 1979. These increases, which will total $78.6 billion through 1983, would, by themselves, undoubtedly have a negative effect on the economy as a whole, which may have to be dealt with by offsetting tax cuts in fiscal year 1979 or later years.