[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 50 (Monday, May 2, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 2, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                        ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas [Mr. Armey] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ARMEY. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the Speaker 
of the House, the majority leader, and the minority leader, for making 
this time available to me today.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to point out that I have taken this 
time today largely because my sister is in town from Cando, ND, and she 
wanted to see her brother give a speech on the floor. It seemed to me 
that is a fair enough thing to ask. For that reason, I would like to 
give this speech for my sister and her husband.
  Mr. Speaker, several months ago, while presenting the President's 
health care plan in New York City, the First Lady made a comment to the 
effect that the American people had to learn to accept their 
responsibilities.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been bothered by that for some time. I, for one, 
thought I had been accepting my responsibilities. Most of my friends 
believe they are accepting their responsibilities.
  Quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, we did not believe that a spokesman of 
the Federal Government, that we support, was really quite qualified to 
tell us what our responsibilities were and the extent to which we 
accept our responsibilities.

                              {time}  1210

  Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, we are often baffled because we do not know 
what responsibilities it is that we are being admonished to accept: our 
personal responsibilities for ourselves or our families, or our so-
called social responsibilities, which are generally defined for use by 
somebody who does not think we are doing enough and is perfectly 
satisfied that they are.
  So I thought I would take a moment to talk about an average American 
family of four who are living at the median income level and see the 
extent to which these average American people are, in fact, accepting 
either their personal or their social responsibilities.
  For example, if, in fact, the parents in the family, one or both, 
decide to get a job, perhaps decide to get an education that prepares 
them for a job, is that an acceptance of their personal responsibility 
and, if it is, is it not also an acceptance of their social 
responsibility to not be part of the problem?
  And if they got a job, the average median income they would earn in 
this country is $51,883. You would think that would be sufficient to 
take care of their personal responsibilities, perhaps even some of 
their social responsibilities. Well, what happens?
  The purveyors of social responsibility laid their claim on that 
salary first. And this family, out of their $51,883 find themselves 
paying $22,045 in taxes. That is not money they have for themselves and 
their family. It must be money they use to fulfill their social 
responsibilities.
  Federal income tax would be $5,442. Payroll taxes would be $7,938; 
$6,433 would be what they would made by the Government to put into a 
retirement program defined for them by the Government, which ranks as 
one of the most badly mismanaged retirement programs in the history of 
the world, called Social Security. And if any retirement program in 
America today managed its affairs the way Social Security manages our 
affairs under this mandatory program, it would be the Federal 
Government that would haul them into court.
  In addition to that, this family would pay $1,505 in Medicare taxes 
where they would attend to the health needs of people they did not even 
know. Would that be their social responsibility or their personal 
responsibility?
  They would pay other Federal taxes of $2,127, and they would pay 
State and local taxes of $6,537.
  Now, from all of those taxes from which it is, I assume, them doing 
both their personal responsibility and their social responsibility, 
they would be allowed to keep $33,807 for themselves and their 
families. What could they do with that? Well, the average family spends 
$8,042 just for housing and for household. They spend $5,136 for food. 
They spend $5,240 for health care. They spend $3,476 for 
transportation; $2,387 for recreation, $2,127 for clothing and for 
other expenses, like perhaps maybe sending the kids to college. They 
have $4,566.
  Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to point out here is Americans know 
their responsibilities, be they personal or social responsibilities. 
They do not need somebody who has the privilege of living in public 
housing and sending their children to the school of their choice 
telling them that they must learn to accept their responsibilities 
when, in fact, they are spending 36 percent of their income to support 
the Government and, if they have a two-family income, the second family 
is not working to support the family but is supporting the Government.
  It seems to me it is time that the Federal Government begin to have 
some sense of its own responsibility to the people that make it 
possible for them to exist.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Coleman). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Owens] is recognized for 5 
minutes.

  [Mr. OWENS addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in 
the Extensions of Remarks.]

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