[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 110 (Monday, July 10, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H6702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      COST OF GOVERNMENT DAY 1995

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of May 
12, 1995, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. DeLay] is recognized during 
morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DeLAY. Mr. Speaker, today is the first day that the American 
citizens start working for themselves. What do I mean by that:
  Yesterday was the Cost of Government Day. The American people worked 
from January 1 of this year to July 9 of this year for the government. 
I say to my colleagues, ``If you add up all the taxes paid on the 
local, State, and Federal level, and the cost of regulation, 52 cents 
out of every hard-earned dollar that the American people earn goes to 
the government. Out of the 365 days in the calendar year, the American 
people worked 189.9 days for the government and the regulatory 
bureaucracy. They worked 15.3 days for defense, 13\1/2\ days for 
interest on the national debt, 28.7 days for Social Security and 
Medicare, 51.1 days for State and local taxes and regulations, 41.7 
days for Federal regulations, and 35.6 days for other Federal 
programs.''
  I ask my colleagues, ``Did you know that more than half of the money 
that you earn goes to the government? Actually 52 cents of every 
dollar, every dollar earned by the average worker, is spent on 
government, tax and regulations? This means that you spend more time 
working for the government than you do for yourself and your family. It 
means that only 48 cents out of every dollar earned by the American 
family is available to pay for housing, food, education, 
transportation, and other essentials.''
  Mr. Speaker, this is unconscionable and immoral. By recognizing 
government-imposed costs and regulations, we can begin to increase 
public awareness of the 52-cent swindle.
  As chairman of Cost of Government Day I say to my colleagues, ``I 
urge you to join me in highlighting the cost of government to the 
average American family by giving a 1-minute or participating in the 
press conferences to come, and I urge all my colleagues to do so.''
  True, this year, the total cost of government is estimated to be $3.3 
trillion. Nearly $1 trillion of this is the result of regulation. The 
Federal Government alone is responsible for $720 billion in hidden 
taxes through regulation this year. That
 amount equals $2,800 for every man, woman, and child in America.

  Although the burden is immense, it can be lessened quickly. If the 
House Republican budget proposal were to be implemented, the Cost of 
Government Day would be 17 days earlier by the year 2002. That would 
allow Americans to work 2\1/2\ weeks longer for themselves and their 
families. Regulatory and legal reforms could move the Cost of 
Government Day to even earlier.
  Mr. Speaker, we need these budget, legal, and regulatory reforms in 
order to reduce the Government's negative impact on the American 
family.
  Mr. Speaker, July 9 marks the third annual Cost of Government Day. 
Cost of Government Day is an excellent opportunity to drive home the 
need for less government spending and more regulatory reform. The 104th 
Congress has made an excellent start. Passage and implementation of the 
House Republican budget will make Cost of Government Day come much 
quicker and the American family be able to spend more of its hard-
earned dollars for things they think are important rather than for what 
some bureaucrat thinks is important.
  Mr. Speaker, over in the other body they are starting the debate on 
regulatory reform, and the first thing out of the box for the last week 
has been an absolute unheralded attack on Members of Congress that are 
trying to bring some good science and common sense to regulations in 
this country. We have been attacked with the notion that we are 
destroying the environment, that we are removing safety. Indeed people 
are attacking us for even costing lives. What we are talking about is 
bringing reasonableness to regulations.
  Let me just go over a couple of these issues that show how crazy and 
extreme the regulatory environment in this country has gotten. In 
Sacramento, CA, residents are reeling over a U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service ruling last fall which added three varieties of fairy shrimp to 
the endangered species list. The agency relied on a one-paragraph 
petition submitted by a Davis, CA, botanist in 1990 even though 
millions of hardy shrimp can be found in California, Europe, Asia, 
Australia, and Africa. The decision has shut down a pony ranch that 
housed a Sacramento program for the needy and disabled children and 
could cost the Sacramento area housing industry $500 million.
  That is the kind of regulation that we are trying to stop. That is 
the kind of regulation that we are trying to bring reasonableness to. 
That is the kind of regulation that we are trying to bring forward, 
regulatory reform to bring forward, to stop the cost. That is a direct 
cost to the American people, thereby a direct cost to the American 
family.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is really sad that yesterday was the Cost of 
Government Day, that the American family has to work more than half the 
year for the government. I think, Mr. Speaker, that we need to put 
policies forward in this country that lessen the number of days that 
the American family has to work for their Government and increase the 
number of days that the American family can work for themselves.


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