1st District Congressional Update

By Steve Largent U.S. Representative (R)-Oklahoma 1st Congressional District <a href="http://www.house.gov/writerep">e-mail Steve Largent </a> or visit the <a href="http://www.house.gov/largent">

Monday, February 12th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

By Steve Largent
U.S. Representative (R)-Oklahoma
1st Congressional District

e-mail Steve Largent or visit the 1st District website.

Record surpluses will permit tax relief

This week President George W. Bush unveiled a plan that will provide tax relief for everyone who pays income taxes, while spurring economic growth. Among other things, the tax plan would:

Reduce the marriage penalty and eliminate the death tax
Double the child tax credit to $1,000 and expand the charitable tax deduction
Replace the current five-rate tax structure with four lower rates of 10, 15, 25, and 33 percent
Make permanent the research and development tax credit

Iâ€™m delighted to see our new president embrace tax relief in his first month of office. Thanks largely to the fiscally responsible work of Congress over the last six years, we now have a surplus large enough to pay down the government debt and provide tax relief at the same time.

Protecting women who take RU-486

This week I agreed to cosponsor a bill that better protects women who take the abortion pill, RU-486, also known as mifepristone. RU-486 entails killing a pre-born infant at an early stage of pregnancy. Use of the prescribed drug puts women at risk for possible side effects, including heavy bleeding. H.R. 482, introduced by my colleague, David Vitter (R-LA), would place requirements on physicians who prescribe the drug to be legally empowered and trained to perform an abortion, properly trained in the drug's administration, and have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.