[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 87 (Thursday, June 13, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H6402-H6403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                REPUBLICANS GOAL IS TO END THE TAX TRAP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Weller] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WELLER. Mr. Speaker, I represent probably the most diverse 
district in the State of Illinois. I represent part of the city of 
Chicago and the south suburbs, industrial communities like Joliet, and 
Rockdale and La Salle, Peru, and many bedroom communities and farm 
towns, too.
  As I travel throughout my district, I look for things that are always 
in common, even though my district is so very diverse, and one thing 
that I have always noticed is that there is hardly a day that goes by 
that a young working mother or working father does not come up to tell 
me how difficult their life is right now and how concerned and fearful 
they are for their future.
  They ask questions about why so many families are struggling to keep 
their heads above water. Why is it that Americans are working harder 
and working longer yet they have less to show for it? Why is it that 
more people have to hold two jobs just to make ends meet?
  The answer can be summarized in three words, the tax trap. It is 
simple to explain. The harder you work, the more taxes you have to pay. 
The more taxes you have to pay, the longer and harder you have to work. 
And you end up working harder and longer and Washington ends up with 
more, but you end up with less.
  Today, almost half of what you earn goes to Washington and the 
government in one form or another. Half. And the tax trap is 
particularly difficult on working women who are trying to balance a 
career and family obligations just to pay all the additional taxes. 
Every year you send more of your hard-earned income to support a 
Washington bureaucracy that is growing and that leaves less for you and 
for your family.
  Did you ever wonder why Bill Clinton and his liberal friends are 
asking you to sacrifice a little more so Washington can spend a little 
more? Should we not demand that Washington spend less so that you can 
keep more? After all, it is your money.
  Against unanimous Republican opposition, Bill Clinton imposed the 
largest tax hike in American history, $264 billion, to be exact. Yet he 
still expects Americans, after that, to save more and to give more. But 
we know it just cannot happen that way.

  Let me state this clearly. The cost of Bill Clinton's tax policies to 
the typical Illinois family in higher taxes and lower earnings is 
$2,600. And all of us have felt that tax crunch. That is why we have so 
many people in this country who are so afraid of the future.
  And in many ways I share that fear, because when I think of this, I 
think of parents with children in high school who have the dream of 
sending their children off to college, but they fear they cannot afford 
the interest on the student loan.
  Then I think of the newly married couple who wants to buy their piece 
of the American dream, their own home, but they are afraid they cannot 
afford to because mortgage rates are becoming higher and higher.
  I think of American seniors, people like my own mom and dad, who are 
depending on Medicare but are afraid it will not be there in just a few 
years when they will really need it.
  These are real people with real concerns and real fears, and for them 
I ask, what is so wrong about asking Washington to live within its 
means? What is so wrong about demanding that Washington not spend 
extravagantly at the expense of our Nation's children? Is it fair to 
punish working families who are trying to save for their future?
  The Washington liberals and the bureaucrats will tell you to just 
work a little harder for Washington. Well, maybe the Washington 
bureaucrats need to work a little harder. I say it is time that you 
stop working for Washington and start working for yourselves. It is 
time to end the tax trap and give the American family some well-
deserved tax relief. It is time to return your power and your money and 
your influence to where it belongs, with you, the citizen and the 
taxpayer.
  As Americans, we cannot settle for less. As Americans, we cannot 
accept second best. As Americans, we cannot lower our expectations. 
This could be the greatest economy in the world, but we will only 
restore that greatness if we enact policies that encourage economic 
growth, raise wages, encourage savings, and return hope and optimism to 
the work force.

[[Page H6403]]

  Our Washington bureaucracy did not make us great, America was made 
great because we as a Nation strived hard, sacrificed often, and worked 
together to be the best. It is our goal, the Republican goal, to end 
the tax trap. It is our goal to help Americans earn more money and to 
keep more of the money they earned so they can do more for themselves, 
their children, their family and their community, and save more for 
their children and their future. And, frankly, to be able to give a 
little more at the collection box on Sunday.
  Unending dreams and limitless possibilities, that is what the 
American dream is all about. It is up to all of us to take it back.

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