tejek,
Glad I quit smoking. <g>
re:``I'm going to get my message out or die trying,'' Dwight Watson, 50, of Whitakers, N.C.,
edwards.senate.gov
SENATOR EDWARDS PRAISES BUDGET,
BUT FAULTS TOBACCO TAX
February 1, 1999
WASHINGTON–U.S. Senator John Edwards on Monday praised President Clinton's overall budget proposal, but pledged to fight a tobacco tax increase that the Senator called "unfair to North Carolina farmers and workers."
The $1.77 trillion budget that the President submitted to Congress calls for a 55-cents per pack cigarette tax increase without providing any assistance to tobacco farmers. The White House also has contemplated a controversial plan for the federal government to collect almost $19 billion beginning in 2001 from a tobacco industry lawsuit settlement with the states.
Senator Edwards said he would oppose both proposals. "As a Senator from North Carolina, I will stand up and fight for North Carolina tobacco farmers and workers on the floor of the United States Senate," Senator Edwards said. "The tobacco industry employs more than 100,000 people in our state, and it deserves a vigorous advocate fighting for it in Washington."
The overall budget, which would raise federal spending by 2.3 percent in 2000, contains other proposals that Senator Edwards said would benefit North Carolina.
He applauded education initiatives that would help North Carolina school districts modernize buildings and triple the commitment to after-school and summer school programs.
He said the first proposed Pentagon spending increases since the end of the Cold War, including pay raises for enlisted men and women and improved retirement benefits for veterans, would strengthen the national defense and benefit the strong military sector of the North Carolina economy.
Environmental initiatives outlined in the budget would give permanent wilderness protection to parts of the Great Smoky Mountains, and increase federal assistance to safeguard national marine sanctuaries, restore coastlines and revive fisheries.
The White House budget plan contemplates a budget "surplus" of $117 billion in 2000. Senator Edwards, however, criticized the White House for continuing to rely on Social Security trust fund reserves to avoid the appearance of red ink. "An honest budget would prohibit the government from using the Social Security trust fund to hide the budget deficit," Senator Edwards said. "I think we should tell the American people the truth." The Congressional Budget Office has projected the first real budget surplus without raiding Social Security funds in 2001. |
