[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 164 (Monday, October 23, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15420-S15421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. GRAMS. Mr. President, I am honored to join with my freshman 
colleagues and others this morning as we share our thoughts on the 
important work that is being undertaken this Congress. We may be new to 
the Senate, but together we carry the powerful and, in Washington, 
novel idea that the tax dollars are not the Government's money.
  While I was growing up on my family's dairy farm, we did not have 
much need back then, it seemed, for the Federal Government. As long as 
the mail got delivered and there was something to collect when they 
cashed in their war bonds, my folks and their neighbors really did not 
have much reason to concern themselves much with what was going on in 
Congress. They certainly did not turn to Washington when they needed a 
helping hand. They never really thought of doing that, and I expect 
they never thought anything would come of it if they tried.
  They did not believe Government should have the right to take as much 
money as it thought was fair from some Americans and, in turn, give as 
much money as it thought was fair to others. If the Government can 
confiscate the wealth of some, it can take it all from all.
  We agree that taxes need to be collected for our national security, 
our transportation, our good sewer and water systems. But we do not 
want our hard-earned money taken for social engineering and the 
redistribution of wealth, disregarding the people who have worked so 
very hard to earn it, invested all they had, and took, in many cases, 
enormous risks.
  If you had worked hard to save what you have, we have had a Congress 
over the last 30 years that believed this money actually belonged to 
Washington. The Democratic leaders have used your money to basically 
create not a level playing field, but a dependent class. They have used 
your money to buy, in many cases, political support and votes.
  There was a time in this Nation's history when neighbors counted on 
their neighbors for help. Whatever involvement from the Government they 
may have needed came partly from the State, but most of their contact 
with Government came at the local level. If there were improvements 
that were needed for the good of the community, folks scheduled a town 
meeting where they talked over their problems and then made those 
decisions. It was open democracy at its most basic level. Most 
important, the choices were made by the community and made voluntarily, 
and the town got to see exactly where their tax dollars were going and 
they enjoyed the direct benefits of pooling together their money.
  They did not need a department of education or housing or 
transportation. That is what families and the communities were for. But 
then, beginning sometime during the 1930's, while the Nation was 
rebounding from the Great Depression, the Federal Government began 
inserting itself more directly into American life, and the idea started 
to take hold that Washington somehow had all the answers. That 
philosophy grew even more quickly during the 1960's and into the 
1970's. Washington became the center of power by confiscating the 
people's money and using that money to make decisions that Washington 
felt were best for the people.
  As that power was taken away from the American people, more and more 
people were forced to start relying on the Government rather than 
relying on each other. Mr. President, just ask your constituents. They 
know how much more of their tax dollars Washington has demanded year 
after year.
  Back in 1948 the average family of four paid just 3 percent of its 
annual income to the Federal Government. That jumped to nearly one-
third of their paychecks by 1993, when President Clinton pushed a $275 
billion tax hike through this Congress, a record-breaking tax increase 
that even now he admits was too much.
  Somewhere along the line, the big spenders who used to control 
Congress forgot just who the money really belongs to. They have passed 
laws that say you have to pay more so they can spend it where they see 
fit. When you do this for more than 30 years, they not only forget who 
the money really belongs to, but they begin to believe that it actually 
is theirs. They did this again by passing laws one at a time that say 
you owe Washington its due.
  Again, I am not saying that we do not need a strong Federal 
Government and it will cost us money in the form of taxes to support 
that, but not half of everything that we earn, while the appetite in 
Washington for your tax dollars continues to grow. This transfer of 
cash away from the local communities into the Federal coffers has 
stripped people of so much of their money that they have little left to 
invest in their own communities, toward caring for the less fortunate 
and to making their neighborhoods better places to live. Government has 
taken the place of private charity, of neighbor helping neighbor, and 
has even usurped the role of families, in many cases, in caring for 
children and in caring for the elderly. In fact, a lot of things have 
become the problem of the Federal Government.
  Already this year I have received 155,000 letters from my Minnesota 
constituents. The majority of those letters express opinions on the 
issues that we are currently debating in Congress, and I need that kind 
of feedback. But an ever-increasing percentage of mail we get here in 
the Capitol is from people looking to Washington for help.
  Washington creates the problem. Then Washington offers to fix it. It 
is a catch-22 cycle, and it certainly is not governing. If the Federal 
Government reduced taxes and let the people keep the dollars they 
earned, maybe they would not need to go to the Federal Government with 
those outstretched hands. 

[[Page S 15421]]

  I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Why do you 
denounce our plans to give working-class Americans some of their own 
money back through a tax cut? They argue that we cannot afford to give 
anybody a tax cut. But who is we, Mr. President? Is not we supposed to 
be the people? And how can Congress not afford to give back to the 
people something which is actually theirs in the first place?
  It is no wonder that some of our colleagues are fighting us every 
step of the way on our tax-cutting plans. They see the power being 
stripped away from them, and it scares them.
  The $500 per child tax credit is powerful relief for overtaxed 
American families. Yet, compared against 1 trillion in tax dollars 
which the Federal Government will collect in 1996, a tax cut that 
amounts to about $35 billion a year makes a pretty small dent in the 
national tax bill. But it is a sign that Congress has heard the people, 
that the tide which has tugged against the taxpayers for so long is 
finally beginning to shift in another direction, that someone in 
Washington has finally remembered that it is not the Government's 
money.
  For too many years, Congress has been eating the people's dessert 
while the people have been eating the gruel. Congress taxes away the 
workers' college fund or vacation, or their downpayment on a home, and 
then make the workers come to Washington looking for help. I say it is 
time we give them a break.
  Congress has enjoyed handing out other people's money so much that 
they have spent all the taxes that I will pay. They have even spent 
some of the taxes my children will pay, and they have even begun to 
spend some of the taxes that my grandchildren will pay.
  Mr. President, the soul of any democracy is the idea that the power 
still rests with the people. The only purpose for which power can be 
rightfully exercised over any member of civilized communities against 
his will is to prevent harm to others. And that is something that was 
written by 19th century English economist, John Stewart Mill. His own 
good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient. All that my freshmen 
colleagues and I are trying to do is give back to the people the power 
that rightfully rests with them.
  Finally, Mr. President, we will balance the budget. We are going to 
push ahead with our tax cuts, and at every opportunity, through our 
legislation or statements on the floor, we will be here to remind our 
fellow Senators again and again that it is not the Government's money, 
that it belongs to those who earn it.
  Thank you very much.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I thank the Chair for recognizing me.
  Mr. President, I do not know if this is necessary. But I ask 
unanimous consent that the time I use be taken out of the time as 
previously under the order allocated to the minority leader, Senator 
Daschle.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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