[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 137 (Tuesday, September 27, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 27, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 A CONTRACT WITH AMERICA THAT CUTS GOVERNMENT AND SAVES AMERICANS MONEY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Sangmeister). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of February 11, 1994, and June 10, 1994, the gentleman 
from Ohio [Mr. Kasich] is recognized during morning business for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. KASICH. Mr. Speaker, this morning it is very interesting to the 
Members of this House to listen to the Democrats' vitriolic, at times, 
rhetoric here about the Republican contract with America. Frankly, Mr. 
Speaker, it is amazing to sit here and listen to people so concerned 
that they now resort to, in some cases, some vicious personal attacks 
against the Republican whip, Newt Gingrich.
  However, the question is, Why is it that they would resort to these 
kinds of strong personal attacks, and the strong rhetoric against our 
plan? For one basic reason, Mr. Speaker. They are concerned that they 
are going to lose their empire; that for 40 years--I have only been 
alive 42 years, but for 42 years in this country they have owned it 
all. They have had the whole kingdom, and guess what? Their kingdom is 
being threatened. What happens when people are being threatened with a 
loss of what they have? They lash out and strike out. They will even 
resort to innuendo and hyperbole, and yes, even demagoguery, when it 
gets right down to it.
  Mr. Speaker, what is the Democrat Party's contract with America? They 
have had a contract with America all of my lifetime. Their contract is 
real simple: Tax and spend, tax and spend. That is the Democrats' 
contract with America.
  I remember when the President on the campaign trail said, ``There is 
this old broken record the Republicans are going to put on, watch out 
for it.'' Do you remember when he said it? ``The record is going to 
say, `tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend.''' That is the way 
the President said it.
  Guess what, he got off that bus that he came up here from Little Rock 
on and he sent us a budget bill, and guess what was in that budget 
bill? Tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend. That was what was in 
the bill. That is their contract with America.
  The Republicans have decided that we are going to create a contract 
with America based on what we hear across this country. Let me say the 
one essential message we as Republicans hear from the American people: 
the Government is too big, the Government spends too much of your 
money, the Government wastes too much of your money, the Government of 
the United States here in Washington does not work in too many cases, 
and it taxes too much from you; that you go to work and you plug, and 
your wife has the main job and you have the second job, or vice versa, 
and you are trying to put a little extra money in the bank, you are 
trying to educate your kids, and you turn around and the Government is 
taxing you and wasting what you send to Washington.

  And you are telling us you have had enough, and we hear you; we hear 
you, America. So we put a contract together that does one fundamental, 
basic thing: It cuts the influence of Washington, it reduces the level 
of spending in this town. And if anybody should have any doubts about 
it, I just ask you to go back and look at last year's budget proposal, 
where the Republicans gave family tax relief, $500 per child per family 
for families under $200,000, and we attempted to reinvigorate the 
infrastructure of this economy by giving incentives for business to 
expand and create jobs.
  We did not cut the Defense Department to the bone, like this 
administration has done, and then send our people into harm's way. We 
had $60 billion over 5 years more in defense spending, and guess what? 
With family tax relief and incentives to create jobs, and more money 
for defense, we still had lower deficits than the President had in his 
budget, using our specific proposals to change the way that Washington 
works, and to downsize the operation of the Federal Government, plain 
and simple.
  Mr. Speaker, also contained in this contract with America is an 
effort to try to fix the legal system. Everybody in America is fed up 
with being sued by everybody for everything. I just have to refer to 
the case of the lady that sued and won for having been scalded by a cup 
of coffee she bought in McDonald's 5 minutes earlier. Americans want to 
preserve the right to redress grievances in the courts, but we all know 
the pendulum has swung too far.
  We are going to bring a vote up on term limits within the first 100 
days, for this House to be put on record as to whether they want to 
change constitutionally the way in which we serve in this body, and we 
are going to enact the Shays act.
  No law we pass on you should not be complied by by us. It is just 
plain, simple common sense. We are going to cut the 30,000 
congressional staff.
  The bottom line is, Mr. Speaker, I say to the American people, you 
choose. Do you want a contract with America that calls for more tax and 
spend like we have had over the last 40 years, or are we going to have 
a contract with America that cuts Washington and gives you your money 
back to spend on your family?

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