CONGRESS GETS PASSING GRADE

U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson gave Congress a passing grade for the recently completed session.

"I probably would have given us a C plus or a B minus," Emerson said Tuesday in a telephone interview from her Virginia home.

"I think we did some good things," the Cape Girardeau Republican said.

Heading the list, she said, was passage of the balanced-budget bill.

"We absolutely had to balance the budget and I think having tax relief was also very important," she said.

But Emerson said Congress needs to cut taxes even more. "The root of the problem is really the Internal Revenue code and the whole tax system," she said.

She said Congress needs to establish a fair and simpler tax code. That could mean passage of a national sales tax or a flat tax, she said.

Emerson said the tax code and overhauling the Internal Revenue Service will be major issues in the 1998 session.

"There isn't any reason why we should have a marriage penalty tax," said Emerson. "It is stupid and it needs to get eliminated."

Emerson also said Congress should abolish the death tax and simplify capital gains tax relief.

Emerson was disappointed that Congress didn't pass a new, six-year highway bill that would have returned more federal gas-tax dollars to Missouri.

"We need to get more than our 82 cents on the dollar. Our House bill had us getting back 92 cents on the dollar," she said.

Congress ended up settling for a compromise bill that leaves any decisions about a new formula to next year's session.

"I am sorry we didn't do a little bit more on the educational reform front," Emerson said.

She said Congress has made some changes, primarily funneling federal money to the nation's schools through black grants. "I think we need to do more of that."

Emerson said Washington's regulatory role in the nation's school systems needs to be reduced.

Emerson wants to make some changes in federal health care laws too. She wants to scrap a federal law that pays hospitals not to train doctors.

The congresswoman also favors full disclosure of campaign contributions: where the money comes from and where it is spent.

"Quite frankly, it needs to go up on the Internet," she said.