Chairman Thomas' Retirement Announcement

Chairman Thomas' Retirement Announcement

Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Committee on Finance, today made the following comment on the retirement announcement of Rep. Bill Thomas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

"Chairman Thomas said he can pitch another game, but why? To use another famous baseball quote, it ain't over 'til it's over. Chairman Thomas has another nine months as chairman. He's not a lame duck type. I know we'll get at least one more major tax bill done and probably more legislation in the next nine months. That's in keeping with our track record. Together, we've
produced a series of major tax relief bills for the American people. Those bills include basic common-sense income tax cuts, like the creation of a new 10 percent tax bracket for low-income individuals and tax relief to help our country recover from the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy and last year's hurricanes. We've also produced the first-ever Medicare prescription drug benefit. And our committees have advanced a series of free trade agreements. The media like to make a lot of the socalled differences between Chairman Thomas and me. In reality, we have a lot more in common than people might think. We both care deeply about enacting the right policy for the American people, and we've both been able to deliver in our respective chambers, even though the House and Senate are very different structurally and procedurally. I think we both know it's important not only
to have strongly held views, but also to do the homework to back them up. I look forward to working with Chairman Thomas over the next nine months."

http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2005/prg030606c.pdf