"If

revenues fall below projections and endanger the

balanced budget, the reductions are frozen,"

he said.

Collins

said the bill contains measures that encourage

savings and investment. "A high tax burden

is a sure way to guarantee that earnings cannot

be saved and invested. This legislation contains

incentives to save by providing average Americans

a tax exclusion for $200 (singles) and $400

(joint filers) interest on savings," he

said.

"We

broaden Education Savings Accounts so we can

reduce the tax costs for parents saving money for

their children's educations," he added.

"Some 70 percent of these ESA savings would

go to families with children in public schools.

We encourage small businesses to invest by

reducing capital gains tax rates. Small

businesses generate the most jobs in America and

are a major source of our economic strength. By

phasing down and eventually repealing the estate

tax, we will preserve the family farms and

businesses that will otherwise have to be sold to

pay the death tax.

"The

bill makes health coverage more affordable by

allowing taxpayers, not fully covered by an

employer-sponsored plan, to deduct the costs of

health insurance," he added.

The

bill also removes the tax disparity for married

couples, Collins said. More than 21 million

married couples pay an average of $1,400 more in

taxes than they would if they were single. The

legislation provides them a larger joint

deduction.

During

consideration of the bill by the Ways and Means

Committee, Collins introduced two amendments that

he said will cut red tape without costing extra

money. One Collins-authored amendment simplified

taxation of distilled spirits wholesalers so that

the taxes would no longer provide an advantage

for foreign-distilled spirits.

He

also succeeded in amending the Financial Freedom

Act to make it possible for land owners who

occasionally sell timber to sell their timber in

lots.

Under

present regulations, land owners can be

categorized as "dealers" by the

Internal Revenue Service and must use a more

wasteful "pay as cut" method to qualify

for certain capital gains tax treatment, he said.

This method often results in wastage of timber

and land, as well as tax avoidance.

"This

was a win-win amendment - even the IRS

wanted to simplify this provision of the

code," Collins said.