O’Neill Praises Tax Plan as Good Start

House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.), in a rare appearance as a congressional witness, praised President Reagan’s tax reform plan Thursday as a “historic shift” for the White House and said that a bill could be passed by the end of next year.

But, in testifying before a House Ways and Means subcommittee, O’Neill stressed that, although the proposal was a good beginning, one of his “highest personal priorities” before he retires next year will be to make tax reform more beneficial to the working poor.

O’Neill cautioned Congress to take its time with the issue but said, “I believe we can get a bill on the President’s desk in the 99th Congress,” which ends at the close of next year.