WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE) today said that the Senate budget resolution, currently being debated on the floor, does not cut taxes enough and does not restrain federal spending enough. His floor statement follows:

"Mr. President, this budget resolution contains some provisions that I applaud, but it falls short in several areas: first, the proposed tax cuts are too small to provide the relief that taxpayers need and deserve; second, it does not adequately restrain the growth and reach of the federal government. Third, it is not what the hard-working men and women of America desire nor deserve. They deserve better.

"The current economic expansion is now 84 months old, the third longest on record. Overall growth rate has been relatively steady and moderate. In the last three months alone, more than one million new jobs have been created, while the unemployment rate has been reduced to a 24-year low. In addition, inflation as measured by the CPI is only 1.6%.

"In the midst of this prosperity our citizens are burdened by levels of taxation that are increasingly oppressive -- all to satisfy the appetite of the federal behemoth. This condition runs contrary to counsel handed down from President Jefferson -- counsel we would do well to heed as we move forward with the budget debate. In his First Annual Message to the Congress, President Jefferson wrote that the object of congressional efforts should be "to preserve the general and State governments in their constitutional form and equilibrium; to maintain peace abroad, and order and obedience to the laws at home; to establish principles and practices of administration favorable to the security of liberty and prosperity, and to reduce expenses to what is necessary for the useful purposes of government."

"These are among the core principles which have thus far separated our nation from the rest of the world.

"It is up to this Congress to apply President Jefferson's principle to 'reduce expenses to what is necessary for the useful purposes of government.' All else should remain in the hands of our citizens.

"Today, revenue levels are at all time highs, approaching 20 percent of GDP in both this fiscal year and the next. Not only are these levels high in historical terms, they are unprecedented for a peace-time economy. In fact, the only time in this century that revenues were higher was during World War II.

"Unfortunately, this does not appear to be an anomaly; the Congressional Budget Office projects that unusually high levels of revenue will continue to be extracted from taxpayers for the foreseeable future.

"It is worth noting, Mr. President, that these very same revenues are largely responsible for the budget surplus that has generated so much excitement here in Washington. In fact, the current surplus is mainly attributable to additional unanticipated revenues of about $72 billion in 1997, rather than the effect of spending cuts. It is also worth noting that these revenues have been fueled mainly by our strong economic growth in the last year.

"Yet, despite the record high level of revenues that the federal government now collects to feed its appetite for spending, we are told that we need additional federal programs! Over the past two months, President Clinton has engaged in a well orchestrated campaign to secure approval for spending billions of dollars more on new and expanded government programs. He has set a trap for the American people by promising to do more for them in exchange for higher taxes on their capital and labor.

"We have balanced the federal budget. But that is only one of the steps to be taken to meet Jefferson's objective. We must go on to examine whether the current size and breadth, let alone further expansion, of the federal government for these purposes justifies the taxation on the toil of our fellow citizens. Let's never forget that the revenue collected by Washington does not belong to the federal government; it belongs to the hard-working men and women of this country.

"Mr. President, the budget resolution should allow for immediate and significant tax relief for American taxpayers. However, the $30 billion of tax cuts proposed in the current resolution are not sufficient to provide this relief.

"I would like to see this budget resolution contain total tax cuts of at least $65 billion over five years. These cuts could take a number of forms, including marriage penalty reforms, family tax relief, and savings and investment incentives.

"For example, half of American families face the marriage penalty. The Congress proposed to phase out the marriage penalty for non-itemizers as part of the 1995 Balanced Budget Act, but the proposal was vetoed by President Clinton. In addition to marriage penalty relief, consideration could be given to tax relief for families such as child care credits for both stay-at-home parents and working parents. Ultimately, whatever the final form that tax cuts take, the crucial consideration is that they be substantive and immediate.

"However, we are limited in the ways that we can offset these tax cuts. While the President's Fiscal Year 1999 budget contains a number of revenue raisers, many are rehashed, or controversial proposals that have failed before due to opposition on both sides of the aisle.

"We also cannot look to the spending programs within the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee for savings. We are all firmly committed to protecting the reforms we have made to the Medicare, Medicaid and welfare programs, and should make no further changes at this time. In my opinion, the best option is for the cuts to be offset through the use of a portion of the tobacco settlement revenues.

"While the lack of meaningful tax relief is my main objection to this budget resolution, I am also disappointed to see that there is no provision to make better use of the budget surplus.

"We should not simply spend this surplus, or set it aside; we can do better for our families and the future. I strongly believe that the most productive use of these surpluses is to fund individual Social Security investment accounts for all workers who contribute to the payroll tax. Therefore, Mr. President, I will be offering a Sense of the Senate amendment to instruct the Finance Committee to report a Social Security bill this year. The bill would dedicate the budget surplus to fund Social Security personal retirement accounts. Equally important, my bill will place the Senate on record for putting these surpluses to work for the American taxpayers, and not simply setting them aside to be spent on other less important priorities than social security.

"Finally, Mr. President, I must express my concern over some of the methods for shifting funds around under the budget resolution. Budget rules should not be invented to give authority to one committee to achieve budget savings under the jurisdiction of another committee. More specifically, this resolution gives control over the Medicaid program and welfare programs to the Appropriations Committee. Moreover, savings are to be achieved through administrative reforms which may prove to be unfair and unworkable with our partners, the states. Reforming Medicaid and finding program savings in the child support enforcement system or finding other alternatives should be a task for the committee of jurisdiction -- namely the Finance Committee.

"Mr. President, the American people expect more from us. And it is incumbent upon us to see that they get it."