[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 41 (Friday, March 22, 1996)]
[House]
[Page H2669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                             THE TAX BURDEN

  (Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, Reader's Digest recently did a 
poll that showed that Americans believed that the maximum tax burden a 
family of four should face is 25 percent. That is what Americans think 
is a fair tax burden.
  But reality shows that, today, the total tax burden--State, local, 
Federal--is near 40 percent. Mr. Speaker, and if I may strike a 
moralistic tone, this is wrong. It is wrong that Americans have to 
suffer under a nearly 40-percent tax rate. It is a recipe for disaster 
for us here in Washington to pass bill after bill, year after year, 
just to make sure the Washington bureaucracy has enough money, and 
while the country goes further and further in debt.
  How much is enough? Forty percent? Fifty percent? How long before our 
children start paying an 80-percent tax rate?
  Mr. Speaker, Washington taxes too much because Washington spends too 
much. Bill Clinton's latest budget totally fails to address the reality 
that we need to cut Washington taxes and cut Washington spending.

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