[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 28 (Thursday, March 6, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             WE MUST CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR A BALANCED BUDGET

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Colorado [Mr. Bob Schaffer] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I also rise to speak on 
the topic of excessive taxation.
  Tuesday of this week the first attempt of the 105th Congress to pass 
a balanced budget amendment fell short by only one pathetic vote. The 
failure to pass this amendment was of great disappointment not only to 
me and my family but to most Members of Congress and to approximately 
80 percent of the American people who have repeatedly and consistently 
asked Congress to protect the futures of their children by the passage 
of a balanced budget amendment.
  Now yesterday's setback is temporary, I assure you of that. We must 
and we will continue to push for a balanced budget amendment for the 
American taxpayer. But for now it is essential that we remember just 
whose hard-earned dollars provide for the budget, the same budget that 
we hope will one day be balanced. It is the retired school teacher in 
Cincinnati OH, small businessmen in Atlanta, GA or, closer to my home, 
the farmer in Lamar, CO. They are the ones who sacrifice a greater and 
growing portion of their strenuous effort, hard work and time away from 
their families in order to pay more and more cash only to be squandered 
here in Washington, DC, year after year after year.
  Mr. Speaker, it is high time that we focused on strategies to allow 
these honest, hard-working producers to keep more of what they earn for 
themselves and for their families. They deserve a break from excessive 
and punitive taxation such as the capital gains tax and the inheritance 
tax. Mr. Speaker, these taxes do nothing more than betray the very 
characteristics that Americans stand for: accomplishment, success, 
honesty, opportunity, and optimism, but most especially responsibility.
  Mr. Speaker, these are the core American values upon which our budget 
and Tax Code should be built, not the waste, duplicity, despair and 
stupidity that our Government heaps upon taxpayers every day.
  Now, since the President and his party seem to have the upper hand in 
their zeal to kill a balanced budget, let us agree at least that the 
dead hand of capital gains taxes and the tax on inheritance be lifted 
from the worn backs of American families. Let us free the productive 
instincts of a Nation, unleash its creativity and competitiveness, 
restore the value of thrift, and preserve families and their 
businesses.
  Mr. Speaker, I am just a new Member of Congress, but the people of 
Colorado did not send me here to make friends with the alligators. They 
expect me to help drain the swamp, and providing relief from capital 
gains taxes and death taxes are two important ways to help Americans 
rise above the muck and mire of oppressive taxation. On this topic I 
intend to be most persistent and to speak here often.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  [Mr. ROHRABACHER addressed the House. His remarks will appear in the 
Extensions of Remarks.]

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