[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 7, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H2791-H2792]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     REPUBLICAN PROGRAMS REFLECT THE TRUE PARTY OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duncan). Under a previous order of the 
House, the chair recognizes the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Cunningham] for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CUNNINGHAM. Mr. Speaker, I have heard some of my Democratic 
colleagues talk about the Contract With America. They say it is 
detrimental, but if you look at those Members that are saying that, 
those are the same Members that voted against the balanced budget 
amendment.
  If you look at the Contract With America, on the items that we have 
covered so far, take a look at the history of this House. Have you seen 
votes as fast and as many Republicans and Democrats supporting those 
Contract items?
  Congress falls under the same laws, the balanced budget amendment, 
the line-item veto, unfunded mandates, 290 votes to 340 votes, Mr. 
Speaker; bipartisanship. Who voted against that bipartisanship? The 
liberal and socialist Members of the Democratic party. Even members of 
their own party have separated themselves from the liberal leadership.
  If you take a look at those who voted against it, the gentleman from 
Missouri [Mr. Gephardt], the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Bonior], the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Fazio], why? Because they support big 
government, government doing everything for everybody. The only way 
they can do that is to have a big bureaucracy, and to support that big 
bureaucracy, they have to increase taxes and increase spending.
  Mr. Speaker, the rhetoric; the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. 
Gephardt], years and years and years, I have the documentation, every 
single tax vote that the minority leader now claims that, It is only 
for the rich, and we are trying to help the poor, I have the records. 
That is the same rhetoric since 1970.
  Each time, the Democratic package, including the Bush package, would 
resolve that. However, here again, he is saying the same thing.
  I look at our two California Senators that hid behind the balanced 
budget amendment and say they were trying to protect Social Security, 
but yet in the Clinton tax package those same two Senators in the 
liberal leadership, those same Members of this body that I just 
mentioned, voted for the Clinton tax package, which increased the tax 
on Social Security. Yet, our two Senators on the other side are hiding 
behind that, for the balanced budget amendment.
  Mr. Speaker, I look at what we have done in the past, and the 
rhetoric. I look at a Clinton tax package in which there was a promise 
of a middle-class tax break, a promise not only in the campaign, but 
before the actual budget came forward, and what happened?
  Remember the great Btu tax and the Clinton tax package? There was not 
going to be any middle-class tax in that. I heard liberal Democrat 
after liberal Democrat come up and say, There is no tax increase in the 
Btu tax, there is no tax increase for the middle-class in this tax 
package. America did not buy it, and you passed a bill that was so bad 
that after 45 minutes of closing the clock and twisting arms, you 
passed it by 1 vote, when then Speaker Foley shut down the clock, 
twisted arms until you could pass that bill.
  The rhetoric? $600 billion in new taxes and fees, a defense cut of 
$177 billion, and sure, you can apply some of that to the deficit, but 
in that you increase the tax on Social Security, you cut the veterans' 
COLA, so who is really playing the rhetoric?
  The bottomline, Mr. Speaker, is that the middle-class marginal tax 
rate went up under the Clinton budget. Every Member that is speaking 
here against the Contract not only voted against the balanced budget 
amendment, but voted for that Clinton tax, which increased the marginal 
tax rate of the middle-class from $17,000 and above, yet they say they 
are the party of the middle-class?
  A balanced budget, Greenspan has said, will bring interest rates down 
by 2 percent. That will provide capital. Take a look at the items that 
we wanted to do: capital gains reduction, that is only for the rich? 
Malarkey. America sees through that, and they support a capital gains 
reduction.
  Where we want to limit the amount of growth, growth is projected by 
over 
[[Page H2792]] 50 percent in spending by the year 2002. We want to 
limit growth to 30 percent. Yet, the tax and spend liberals said, We 
are cutting these programs, we are limiting the growth.
  We are not cutting any programs, Mr. Speaker. I take a look at the 
minority leader, I take a look at the socialist leadership in the 
Democratic Party, and I am glad they are in the leadership, because 
even in their own party, from the Black Caucus, from the liberal 
leadership, those Members have separated themselves from that kind of 
rhetoric that we can no longer afford, give me more society that will 
not accept responsibility for their own actions.

                          ____________________