(UTU National Legislative Office Letterhead not reproduced)

October 11, 2000

To: All Concerned

From: James M. Brunkenhoefer

It is very difficult to plan an endgame strategy because Congress continues to move the clock. We are now being told that Congress will probably be here most, if not all, of the week of October 15-21st.

In the last several days, we have hit a number of speed bumps. The following organizations have issued statements saying that they are opposed to the principles of H.R.4844: the Concord Coalition, the National Taxpayers Union, The National Association of Manufactures and the Heritage Foundation. We have even had an editorial in the Washington Post that railed against us.

We have been told that some Republican Senators do not want to pass this legislation because it would interfere with candidate George W. Bush's efforts to give his tax cuts if he is elected. Senator Domenici has sent out a letter, and notified everyone who will listen that this bill is dead. We feel reasonably confident that all of the above negative actions have been generated by his Committee - the Budget Committee. Unfortunately for Senator Domenici, and fortunately for us, he does not have the final say. I know that all of this sounds gloomy, but actually our legislation is being resisted by only a small number of Republican Senators who are trying to destroy our bipartisan efforts. So far their efforts have caused us difficulties but not death. If Senator Domenici's observations were correct, then the support that we are getting from other Senators would have disappeared. These efforts are little more than a Hail Mary pass on the part of those who are opposed to the legislation.

We continue to work closely with Senator Lott's (the Senate Majority Leader) office and he continues to be helpful. The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Daschle, and the House Minority Leader, Rep Gephardt, continue to be firmly in support. They have even written to the White House asking that the principles of H.R. 4844 become law before this Congress adjourns. To add to the confusion, some Republicans are talking of a lame duck session that would take place after the November elections. We are continuing to meet with all parties involved in order to solve any problems. The only reason any of these Republican Senators have any leverage is because the clock is running down in this session.

As I have said before, we are the Energizer Bunny and we just keep moving and moving and moving. In order to continue to be successful, it is absolutely imperative that everyone continues to contact the White House Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staffs and both presidential campaigns. Please also contact each of your Senators' offices and ask that they contact the leadership to ensure that the principles contained in H.R. 4844 become law this year. Also, it would be helpful if the Democratic members of both the House and Senate were to contact President Clinton and ask that he ensure that the principles of H.R. 4844 become law this year.

This is actually reinforcement and insurance to what we are already doing but we must stay active -- we are very close. We do not want to lose this because of any lack of effort. Thank you so much for what has been done so far and lets keep working.

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