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The overarching objectives of this subcommittee bear repeating: to restore public access to the public lands; to restore good management to the public lands, and to restore the Federal government as a good neighbor to those communities most impacted by the public lands.

I opposed the House version of the tax reform bill because the loss of broad-based deductions like state and local taxes would have caused significant tax increases on many of my middle-class constituents in the high-tax, high-cost state of California. It increased the marginal tax rate on high income earners and abolished life-line deductions such as casualty loss, medical expenses and student interest. I urged that we should leave no taxpayer behind. I want to thank Chairman Brady, the Republican Leadership and the conference committee for heeding these concerns. Their final product exceeds my expectations, and on behalf of California taxpayers I can now offer my enthusiastic support. The new version leaves the casualty loss, medical expense and student interest deductions intact.

Thank you for scheduling H.R. 3607 for markup. This bill addresses a nagging problem at Yosemite National Park involving a medical clinic that has operated in the Valley since 1929. Like other medical clinics in our national parks, it serves the park and concessionaire employees, their families, and tens of thousands of daily park visitors.

This amendment assures that the tax reform bill leaves no taxpayer behind. It retains all the provisions on C-corporations and pass-throughs that are desperately needed to produce the kind of economic growth that our country is capable of. It strikes the provisions in the bill that change the personal income tax code and replaces them with a permanent, one percent across-the-board reduction in the rates in every bracket. This should fit within the existing budget authority and save an average family about $600 per year on their taxes.