[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 19, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1165-H1172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      AMERICA'S FUTURE LIES SECURELY IN THE HANDS OF OUR FAMILIES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. McInnis). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 7, 1997, the gentleman from Missouri [Mr. Hulshof] is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of discussion about 
what came out of Hershey, PA. Of course, the tone of civility and 
discussion about civility was probably the predominant theme. However, 
there were matters of substance.
  In fact, David McCullough, an award-winning author, provided some 
pretty inspiring comments for those of us who chose to attend. Mr. 
McCullough invited us, really, to take stock of history so we could get 
a perspective of where we want to go as a Congress and what agendas we 
wish to promote. Mr. McCullough pointed out that, of course, back in 
the 1860's when Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President, as our 16th 
President of this country, the national agenda was focused around the 
civil strife that our country was enduring.
  Moving ahead in history through the Great Depression, the national 
ambition was, of course, to pull ourselves out of the Depression, as 
well as with World War II and eventually the cold war with the growing 
Soviet menace. All those things had outside forces essentially 
dictating what the national policy was to be.
  Mr. Speaker, now that the cold war is over, I think outside forces no 
longer are dictating our national agenda. I think we stand on the verge 
of a historic opportunity. I believe it is time, Mr. Speaker, that we 
create a new vision for this country. The newly elected Members of the 
Republican class of the 105th Congress have been speaking out in a 
positive way about the new vision that we hope to foster in the coming 
months and years ahead.
  Last week, Mr. Speaker, Members may recall we focused as a class on 
community renewal. We touted real life success stories from individual 
districts that showcased creative ways that faith-based charities and 
private industries and communities were reaching out to the poor and 
needy, and ways to help the poor and needy, and ways Government could 
be a partner, rather than a parent.
  Tonight, Mr. Speaker, our class has decided to focus on the family, 
and ways that this institution can help promote a family friendly 
agenda. We believe that strong families can make for a better America. 
In that fashion, Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield to the newest member 
of our class who joined us after a special election in December. I 
yield to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Brady].
  Mr. BRADY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to me.
  Mr. Speaker, at the start of a school year, a teacher noticed that 
one of her students was particularly well behaved. Her manner was, in 
fact, exemplary. As the weeks went on she noticed even more because it 
stood out so much in her class. At one point she finally approached the 
young child and asked, Who taught you to be so polite and so kind-
hearted? And the little girl laughed and said, really, no one. It runs 
in our family.
  Enduring traits that built America run in America's families: That of 
individual responsibility, of caring for your neighbors, of 
contributing to the community in which you live and grow up and work, 
being involved in your church, in your Boy Scout troop, helping to 
build the community in which you live. America's future lies very 
securely in the hands of our families.

  This year in the 105th Congress, the Republican leadership and the 
Republican Congress will take significant steps to make a real 
difference in our lives and in our families' lives. We will continue to 
bring the budget into balance, to rein in the IRS, and to lower 
interest rates. We must, because today most of us pay more in taxes 
than for food, clothing, and shelter combined. A balanced budget means 
lower rates on our mortgages, our student loans, and our car loans, and 
annual savings of about $857 for a typical American family.
  It is also time, and we are going to work hard, to restore safety to 
our streets and neighborhoods by waging a real war on drugs and violent 
crime. We want parents to be able to spend more time with their 
children, so today we have passed a family friendly workplace policy 
that Members are going to hear more about tonight. We will work to 
ensure our children inherit a clean, healthy environment, and receive 
the quality education they need to survive and succeed in this 
increasingly competitive world.
  We face a lot of challenges, but America is blessed with hardworking, 
sturdy families. I believe so strongly in families because my family 
believes so strongly in me. My dad was killed when I was young, and my 
mom raised five of us by herself. She taught us by her example to take 
responsibility for ourselves, to practice our faith each day, and to 
give back to the community in which we live.
  In our family my mom is a true American hero. If you look around your 
family and around your dinner table, and around the gatherings during 
the holiday, and listening on the

[[Page H1166]]

phone when you visit with your family, you will likely see a hero or 
two whose personal sacrifice is the reason for your success and for the 
success of our country.
  Tonight, in the next few minutes, we are going to hear from the 
Republican freshman Members from across this country, led by our 
President, who is going to talk about the changes and improvements we 
are going to bring to the quality of life of America's families. It is 
important because America's families are the foundation for America, 
and we can, with their help, we can meet every challenge America faces 
today.
  Mr. HULSHOF. I thank the gentleman, and I especially welcome him to 
our group, and I appreciate very much the leadership that he has taken 
on this particular issue. I think his points are well taken. We have 
begun that road. We have got a great distance to travel, and we look 
forward to working with the gentleman during this 105th Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to yield to the gentleman from Texas [Mr. 
Paul], another Texan, and I do not know necessarily that Texans have a 
corner on family virtue, but I am happy to yield to my friend.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding. I am 
delighted the gentleman has called this special order tonight, and I am 
pleased I can participate in it.
  Earlier today we had a vote on the Working Families Flexibility Act. 
This came out of the committee I had been working on, and I was a 
strong supporter of this. We did promote this as a family-oriented 
piece of legislation.
  As we all know, this piece of legislation allows more choices for the 
family in the way they can spend their overtime or their time off. 
Obviously, this is a benefit to the families. In one way I was a little 
disappointed that we had to go through it, because if we live in a free 
society it is assumed that you can make these agreements with your 
employer, but under the circumstances it was not available to many of 
our families unless we passed this piece of legislation, so I was 
delighted we were able to do that.
  During that debate I mentioned that one of my favorite bumper 
stickers says simply ``Legalize Freedom.'' Any time we do that in this 
Congress, I am very pleased.
  The other thing I would like to suggest, along with our nice title 
there, ``Strong Families for a Better America,'' I would like to put a 
subtitle there and say, ``Freedom is Family-Friendly.'' I think the 
more freedom we have, the stronger our families are.
  We have seen a tremendous effort, sincere efforts, over the past 30 
or 40 years with the promotion of the welfare state. It is always done 
in the name of helping people and families, but quite frankly, there is 
very little evidence to show that the $5 trillion spent on the welfare 
system has strengthened our families. As a matter of fact, I think it 
has done quite the opposite.
  In the same sense, these many funds were spent to strengthen 
education, and if we look at our educational system, it has not helped. 
If we have an educational system that is not working hardly, are we 
doing much benefit to our families?
  So, I think the opposite of the statement, freedom is family 
friendly, I think big government is not. I do not believe that if power 
and responsibility and authority and responsibility gravitates here to 
Washington that it is beneficial to the family. The more freedom we 
have, the more local options we have, the more choice we have for our 
families, I think the better off we are.
  Obviously, families would have a lot more choices if they had a lot 
less taxes, so we have emphasized that as well. I think our reducing 
taxes on families and giving tax credits for children would certainly 
be a great benefit.
  I would like to bring up very briefly one subject that is dear to my 
heart, because it involves families. It is generally believed by many 
in this country that the women's movement was the main reason why women 
went out to work. Quite frankly, I think there are a lot of women who 
were forced to work in order to take care of their families in the best 
way they can see fit. This to me was so often a reflection of inflation 
because of the cost of living. I believe that eventually we have to 
address this subject and deal with it to make sure our families have 
the greatest opportunity possible that we can provide for them.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman's points are well 
taken, particularly as far as the workplace is concerned. I think that 
of course when you have two-parent families and both parents are having 
to work to pay the tax bill, I think what we have done today, again, is 
a step in that direction as far as helping provide some balance in the 
workplace with more flexibility for employees, and again, this is just 
a step, I think, in the right direction.
  I know that the dean of our Republican delegation, the gentleman from 
Missouri, Jim Talent, who is the chair of the Committee on Small 
Business, also has measures that he will be addressing, like home-based 
businesses and really promoting ways that home-based businesses can 
help balance the job as well as family responsibilities.

                              {time}  1845

  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I think it is interesting to note that the 
workers in the public sector have already had this right. I think it 
was only fair that we give this to the individual workers throughout 
the country.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, I think the gentleman is correct. I think 
that the misnomer, perhaps some of the misinformation about the 
flexibility act is that somehow it abolishes the 40 hour work week 
which of course it does not.
  I see the gentleman from Alabama is in the well of the House. I yield 
to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Riley).
  Mr. RILEY. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding to me.
  As most of my colleagues in the freshman class probably realize, 
probably more than I thought possible, how important my family is to me 
and how important it has been to me. One of the primary reasons I ran 
for this office was to protect my family. Primarily, my first 
granddaughter.
  When she was born 2 years ago, she was $187,000 in debt. Today she is 
$200,000 in debt. We must come together on both sides of the aisle and 
produce a balanced budget this year, because we cannot continue to make 
our children and our grandchildren pay for the debts of our generation. 
We must allow them the opportunity to begin life with the same 
opportunities that we have.
  Unfortunately, today working families across this country gather 
around kitchen tables each week and wonder why they cannot make ends 
meet. They wonder why they work longer, why they have to take second 
jobs. And they feel like they are literally running in place. Many 
families have given up the American dream that their children will 
achieve a higher standard of living than their parents or grandparents. 
In my opinion, the best way we in Congress can help the American family 
is to once and for all balance the Federal budget.
  What will a balanced budget mean to you and your family? A balanced 
budget will result in no less than a 2 percent drop in interest rates. 
To put this in perspective, the cost of a $75,000 mortgage would be 
reduced by as much as $37,000 over 30 years. A family would save $2000 
on $11,000 in student loans. The real beneficiary of a balanced budget, 
Mr. Speaker, would be the American family.
  I guess that is one of the reasons that today I cosponsored the 
Working Families Flexibility Act, and I want to commend all of those 
who helped pass this legislation today. This will give the private 
sector employees the same opportunity as public sector employees to 
spend time with their families. By taking comptime from work instead of 
overtime pay should they choose to do so in this fast paced day and age 
where two-income families continue to rise, families will be able to 
increase this valuable time together because of the Working Families 
Flexibility Act.
  My commitment to families is also why I cosponsored H.R. 902, the 
Family Heritage Preservation Act, which will repeal the estate tax. 
Most of the families in this country work hard all of their lives for 
two reasons: They want to provide a better standard of living for their 
own families, and they want to leave the fruits of their labor to their 
children and to their grandchildren. However, today many families are 
forced to sell off the family farm or the family business just to pay 
the Government's estate tax.

[[Page H1167]]

  It is time we stopped the Federal Government from confiscating up to 
55 percent of a lifetime's accumulation. Seventy percent of all the 
small businesses do not survive to the second generation because they 
have to liquidate all or a part of the assets just to pay the estate 
tax. Furthermore, 87 percent will never be passed on to the third 
generation.
  Mr. Speaker, our families are and will continue to be the backbone of 
our society, and it is incumbent on each of us to help protect and 
preserve those who ultimately will decide our very future.
  I call on the rest of my colleagues, especially in this freshman 
class, to support this family friendly legislation that the Republican 
Party has promoted this year and in past years.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the comments of the 
gentleman and know that prior to his election here to this esteemed 
body that he had quite a probusiness background and certainly a very 
successful career. We are glad and honored that he is one of our 
number, and we look forward to continued success in the well of this 
House.
  Mr. RILEY. Mr. Speaker, we look forward to the gentleman's continued 
leadership. I want to take this opportunity to tell all the Members of 
this class how much they have meant to me personally and how I look 
forward to working with all of them in the days to come.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Colorado [Mr. 
Bob Schaffer].
  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I cannot think of a better 
topic to discuss tonight, and I commend you on your leadership for 
bringing this topic forward and giving us this opportunity, because 
this whole topic of focusing on families and the impact that 
legislation that we pass here in Washington and what that means for 
families across the country is precisely the reason I came here in the 
first place.
  I believe very firmly that we should be motivated in every piece of 
legislation that we pass, from the comptime bill that we dealt with 
today to balancing the budget and our assessment of tax policy and how 
we lead the country should be driven from the perspective of how it 
impacts families.
  Clearly one of the pillars that many of us hold in common and 
bringing us here tonight is our belief that families represent the most 
central and essential social unit in American life. I know that is true 
in Colorado and in your home State as well. And for all of us here, 
having families regarded as a central social unit, essential in 
everything that we believe to be the focus of American life includes 
welfare, for example.
  When we talk about welfare reform, when we saw this Congress, the 
104th Congress pass welfare reform back to the States, once again we 
saw that maintaining the integrity of families was at the center of 
that effort.
  What we are seeing right now in all 50 States is they deal with 
reforming welfare systems on a State by State basis, just as this 
Congress envisioned. We are seeing programs that encourage self-
sufficiency, that encourage work, that reward honest hard work rather 
than dependency, that carry on a legacy that Americans have 
traditionally enjoyed, one that suggests that young children should 
have hope and should be able to aspire to have wonderful jobs, to be 
self-sufficient and to be able to take care of themselves.
  When we look at health care, the clearest difference that I have 
discovered, as a new Member and a freshman, is the difference of 
opinion that we see here between those who believe on occasion that it 
is in the end the Government's responsibility to provide for the health 
care of individuals versus our vision that we wish to empower families 
to provide health care for their children and ultimately be responsible 
for the health of their kids. A clear difference, a clear distinction.

  But I hope that we are successful in continuing to keep our family 
focus at the center of the health care debate, too. With respect to 
wages, it is we who believe that we need to find whatever strategy we 
can come up with here in Congress to increase the family wages and the 
earning power of American families, rather than have them continually 
look for more and more handout from their Government. So increasing 
wages, increasing the ability to seek opportunity is certainly 
essential to us.
  And all of our efforts that deal with trying to strengthen our 
economy, be they our efforts to try to reduce capital gains tax or 
estate taxes that we discussed 2 weeks ago, all designed to try to 
increase the economic power that we enjoy as Americans and in America 
that promote and strengthen American families.
  Public education is another topic that I know we are going to be 
dealing with quite a bit. Those of us here really believe that it is 
ultimately the responsibility of parents to teach their children. We 
bear the responsibility as parents, and we in fact employ public school 
districts and public school teachers to assist us in that job. That is 
again a focus that we need to maintain and be very forceful about here 
on the floor in every single bill that we pass.
  Finally the institution of marriage, something that is ridiculed on 
occasion, something that comes under attack right here in this body and 
throughout the country. It is something that I know you share the same 
intent that I do, to restore the integrity of the institution of 
marriage, to realize that a family, two parents, a child with two 
parents has a tremendously greater chance of succeeding and surviving 
in American society than those who are struggling with families that 
are operating and trying to make a go of it singlehandedly. It is very 
difficult. We want to do everything we can to support them.
  I want to share something with you and for the rest here, this is a 
picture of my daughter. If you have a chance to come to my office, you 
can take a look at it a little closer. My daughter Sarah is 6 months 
old, 6 months old.
  Sarah, on the day of her birth, owed $19,000 to the Federal 
Government. That was her obligation to the Federal debt. That was her 
obligation to pay for things that, frankly, this Congress did not have 
the courage to pay for in years past. They did not think she would 
mind.
  Well, she probably is going to be furious when she learns to discover 
this on her own and understand what that means. That is what she owed 
on the day of her birth. Over the course of her working life, the 
interest on that debt will amount to almost $200,000. It is quite a 
burden we have saddled this child with. I know I keep this picture with 
me. I refer to it often and look at this little girl because this 
happens to be my girl, but it could be anybody's child. It could be 
yours. It could be any child in America. They have no reason to grow up 
in a world where they are saddled with that kind of debt, with that 
kind of a burden that has been placed upon them.
  I think we owe it to Sarah. We owe it to every child in America that 
hope and opportunity is something that will be closer and closer and a 
chance to achieve that and within their grasp. That is what I am 
committed to. I know you are committed to that, too, and the people in 
your fine State and the rest that are here today.
  I just want to pledge to you and to all here assembled and all those 
who are watching this debate today and observing that not a day will go 
by that this U.S. Congress is in session and convened that I will not 
be fighting for everybody's American family, keeping little girls like 
Sarah foremost in my mind in how we conduct our business and keeping my 
family and your family and every American family first and foremost in 
our daily deliberations.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate very much the remarks, 
especially the commitment to family. I know the gentleman touched on 
through his remarks some discussion about relief, tax relief. And 
certainly I think that is, of course, what we are learning as new 
Members of Congress, that that is the challenge that lays ahead of us, 
trying to fashion some tax relief for middle income families and all 
Americans. I know estate tax relief, I think the gentleman referred to, 
is an area that I have a special interest in.
  I also know it is something that our friend from Mississippi cares 
deeply about.
  I yield to our new Member, the gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. 
Pickering].
  Mr. PICKERING. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Hulshof for putting 
this

[[Page H1168]]

together for new Members of Congress so that we can talk about the 
importance of family and the importance of families to the success of 
our country.
  I have four children, four boys, ages 7, 5, 3 and 1. Our campaign 
slogan was, ``If not your support, your sympathy.'' And tonight they 
are at home watching.
  I miss them but I hope as they watch what I do here in this body and 
what I try to do to serve my country that at the end of my days they 
will see that what we were all about is not just about taxes and 
spending and the issues that come before us, but it is about 
strengthening and supporting and sustaining the key to our success, our 
family, of having a culture that discourages violence and crime, that 
promotes strong education, that seeks to remove the barriers and the 
penalties and the punishment that we now see too often placed on 
families. And if we can be a part of that, then I will be very proud of 
my service and that I hope my four boys will think that we did 
something to make their generation live in a free and prosperous and 
moral country.
  In May 1988, President Ronald Reagan visited the Moscow State 
University and before leaving held a short question and answer session 
with some of the students. He made a statement that I think is 
appropriate tonight.
  President Reagan said, ``Progress is not foreordained; the key is 
freedom.''
  For our families to make progress and succeed, our families must have 
freedom. Freedom to grow, to prosper, to spend time with their 
children, freedom from an overly burdensome government.
  Sonny Montgomery served in this district before I did. He met the 
challenge of his day helping build a strong defense and contain 
communism to give my children and to give us the freedom and the 
prosperity that we enjoy today. Men like Bob Dole.
  I believe the challenge of my generation, the challenge that we face 
today is strengthening and providing the environment for families to 
prosper. We will have to make some tough decisions as we go forward. 
The American family today is gripped by taxation, regulation. It seems 
to punish those things we believe in: marriage, investment, work.

                              {time}  1900

  It seems to side against families trying to raise their families 
consistent with their faith and their values. We are trying to propose 
legislative solutions that help; that bring common sense and lift the 
load and the burden from the family.
  What are some of the ideas that we are talking about, some of the 
solutions, the alternatives to the failed old policies that have 
mortgaged our future? What we want to do is provide hard-working 
families more time for their children and more money for their pockets, 
and the ability to pass on not only their good name but the fruits of 
their labor without the fear of the IRS.
  We want to pass the Working Families Flexibility Act, on which we 
voted today. We want a balanced budget. We want to end the marriage 
penalty and to implement a family tax credit. We want to end the death 
tax, the inheritance tax.
  Tonight I want to tell a few stories about families back home in my 
district. A man named Chester Thigpen, 85 years old, has worked his 
entire life to provide for his family, his wife Rosett and four 
children, two boys and two girls.
  Mr. Thigpen's first day of work was back in 1918. On that day his 
labor yielded him 35 cents. Today he is a successful tree farmer, with 
several hundred acres of prime timberland. He has been a tree farmer 
for over 40 years and he has worked daily to ensure a bright future for 
his children.
  He is an example of the American dream. He is the first African-
American to win the honor of the Mississippi Tree Farmer of the Year 
and the National Tree Farmer of the Year.
  But what threatens him and his family today? It is not pine beetles, 
it is not tornadoes, it is not termites. His farm is in jeopardy 
because of the death tax, the inheritance tax.
  He has worked hard his entire life and would like to leave what he 
has done to his children, to give them the fruits of his labor. In 
Proverbs it says that a good man leaves an inheritance for his 
children's children. Mr. Thigpen wants to do this, yet our Federal Tax 
Code wants to confiscate it, to take it away. He has been successful, 
so our Government wants to penalize him.
  He did not work his entire life to see his farm, his inheritance that 
he wants to leave to his children, taken away. The Thigpens say to 
their children, ``Let what you do be an asset to your community.'' They 
have lived that. They are testimonies and they are examples of that.
  We need to stand for Mr. Thigpen and his family, to do away with an 
estate tax that punishes hard work, that takes away the inheritance he 
wants to leave his children. It is clearly the worst example that we 
have in our tax system, to tax people from their grave. Taxation 
without representation in its purest sense. It is a horrible, horrible 
example that must be changed.
  I want to talk about hard-working families that now pay more in taxes 
than they pay in clothing, in transportation, in their mortgages and 
their rents. They pay all of that, more than that, in taxes.
  In 1948, the typical family of four paid 3 percent of its income to 
the Federal Government in direct taxes. In 1994, the equivalent family 
paid 24.5 percent of its income to the Federal Government. We do not 
need another 46 years of growth in taxes, we need 46 years of growth in 
prosperity for our children and our children's children. This is our 
battle for our generation, to preserve the freedom, to support our 
families.
  I will close with one last example of another family in my district 
from Pearl, Mississippi, Bobby and June Pickle. They have two boys, 
Brett and Lake. Mr. Pickle said, and I quote, ``Taxes eat us alive.''
  When they had their first son, Brett, June, their mother, quit her 
job. She wanted to stay home to raise and nurture her family, but she 
could not afford to do so. The bills were too high, the taxes were too 
high, and she was forced to go back and work.
  It is time to change our priorities. Family tax credits that we are 
proposing will help families who choose to have a mother or a father 
stay home with their children. Hopefully they will have the economic 
freedom to do that.
  There are many things that are important in this Congress, none more 
important than supporting, strengthening and sustaining our families. 
The gentleman from Oklahoma, J.C. Watts, is a good leader on the 
Community Renewal Act that will help us move families from welfare to 
work, that will help strengthen the values that we cherish, to look to 
nongovernmental solutions, faith-based and community-based 
organizations, to help strengthen families and communities. All this 
and more we can do to strengthen our families.
  I thank the gentleman for granting me this time tonight and look 
forward to working with all the Members in this body to do everything 
we can to support our families.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for giving us some 
human faces and human life examples as to why we need as a Congress to 
create a new vision, I think, especially the story that the gentleman 
from Mississippi told about his constituent, Mr. Thigpen, and the 
estate tax.
  Today in our committee hearing in the Committee on Ways and Means, we 
had several individuals who testified about the ravages of the estate 
tax. Certainly as the son, only son, of a Missouri farm family, I know 
firsthand whereof the gentleman speaks, of the plight of millions of 
Americans whose pursuit of the American dream becomes a nightmare when 
the realities sink in that a family business has to be liquidated, or 
perhaps a family farm has to be auctioned off on the steps of the 
courthouse just to pay the Federal tax.
  I know our family as well as millions of family members across this 
country have invested not only money into family businesses but their 
hearts and souls. I know family businesses often take the risks and 
then navigate those treacherous straits of regulation. And just as open 
waters and calmer seas lie on the horizon, the Federal Government 
crashes a tidal wave over the bow of the boats of these family-owned 
businesses. I applaud the gentleman for his comments.

[[Page H1169]]

  I also recognize my friend from New Jersey, who also is a leader in 
his community. I know that last week he provided some inspiring 
comments about success stories in his district about community renewal, 
and I am happy to yield to him now.
  Mr. PAPPAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding this time 
to me.
  Mr. Speaker, most of us know the famous line from the movie the 
Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy clicks her heels together and says 
``There's no place like home.'' Well, more and more business owners, 
just like Dorothy, are sharing the same sentiment that there is no 
place like home.
  Over 14,000,000 business owners around this country work out of their 
home, Mr. Speaker. Each of us know people who work from their homes: 
consultants, salespeople, lawyers, doctors, accountants, graphic 
designers, bookkeepers, and the list goes on. But beyond their jobs, 
many of these people are parents. The advent of fax machines, the 
Internet and teleconferencing has literally changed the face of doing 
business. No longer are businesses confined to large office buildings.

  Last week I announced that I have introduced legislation, H.R. 955, 
the Family Freedom Home Office Deduction Act of 1997 that, if enacted, 
will literally help America's families.
  Seventy percent of all home-based businesses are started by women. I 
was pleased to announce the introduction of this legislation at the 
site of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners' State 
luncheon. I was joined by many business owners from the 12th District 
of New Jersey who successfully run home-based businesses.
  Each of these people expressed support for the legislation, and many 
of them mentioned that running a home-based business gave them the 
opportunity to both work and take care of family commitments. While 
they could start and run a business, they could also go to doctors' 
appointments with their children, attend a teacher's conference or do 
numerous other things with their children.
  Operating a home-based business takes away many of the constraints 
that currently prohibit parents from being able to attend to important 
events in their child's life.
  As we were getting ready to make the announcement, a woman who has 
been active in the home-based business issue approached me. She had 
written a book about starting a home office, a home-based business, and 
expressed support for my bill. In fact, she autographed her book and 
signed it, ``To MIKE PAPPAS. There is no place like home.''
  So many of the issues that we will take up this year, and so many of 
the proposals that private industry is undertaking, seek to create a 
more family-friendly work environment and promote family values. We 
have acknowledged so many times before that families are working harder 
and longer just to keep up as their tax burden has risen and college 
costs have soared through the roof.
  Many parents spend every last minute, sometimes working two jobs 
themselves, just to pay the bills and try to save for their children's 
education. Sometimes, though, as they work so hard to provide and save 
for their family, they are unable to be there for the family members. 
How can we expect parents to monitor what their children are watching 
on television if they are not able to be at home? How can we expect 
parents to monitor their children on the Internet if they are not at 
home? For many, the simple solution is the home office.
  Think about it for a second. Parents can still work, can still pursue 
greater prosperity and can do it while being at home with their 
children. Whether it is the father who wants to be there for his 
children or the mother who works as a consultant, working from home has 
become increasingly appealing.
  The Tax Code should reflect the modern business environment of 
America and the IRS should recognize its impact on our future. 
Currently, the IRS severely restricts the ability of home-based workers 
to deduct the expenses relating to their home office.
  I think that all of us, on both sides of the aisle, can agree that 
giving parents the opportunity to spend more time with their children 
would have a positive effect on America's families.
  As we stand here tonight on the brink of a new century, dreaming of 
the future, embracing the next advance in technology, we must not 
forget and we must strive to maintain our country's greatest asset, our 
families.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's comments, and 
in looking about I am happy to see my colleague from Kansas.
  If I could share this quick personal story, not to certainly comment 
upon my colleague's age, but I recall sitting in front of a black and 
white television set in the mid 1960's and watching the Olympics and 
cheering the gentleman on to victory and to an Olympic medal. It is an 
extreme honor to have the gentleman from Kansas joining us as a new 
Member, and I would yield to the gentleman from Kansas [Mr. Ryun].
  Mr. RYUN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for the time and thank 
him for yielding.
  I also thank the gentleman from New Jersey for having mentioned the 
great State of Kansas in his comments about the movie ``Gone With The 
Wind'' and the ``Wizard of Oz.'' Kansas is a great State and I am 
pleased to represent the second District.
  I am also pleased that my freshmen colleagues have chosen to come and 
speak on a subject that is dear to all of us, and that is the family. 
As a father of four children, ranging in ages from 21 to 26, I know how 
important this subject will be to them and their future families.
  Normally, we send our children to school as freshmen, but in this 
case my family, our children, sent me to Congress as a freshman, and it 
is a pleasure to be here and serve the second District and to also 
speak on how important this issue is for families.
  Mr. Speaker, it is important, I believe, that we look at the issue of 
balancing the budget, because what it does, it protects not only our 
children and our future children, but it protects our Nation. The 
current national debt is approximately $5 trillion.
  Just how much is $5 trillion? Well, if we paid a million dollars a 
day for 365 days, that is every day of the year, it would take us 
13,699 years to pay off our national debt.
  It is also a terrible tragedy when we saddle our children born today 
with a debt. They owe the Federal Government $200,000 just on the 
interest on the debt alone. That is something we need to correct. That 
is why balancing the budget is imperative.
  Balancing the budget would reduce the interest rates, according to 
Federal Reserve director Alan Greenspan, by as much as 2 percentage 
points. What does that mean? Well, that means that for a typical 
family, it would save them in these particular areas: Say a student 
loan, a typical student loan, it would save them $216 per year. It 
means if a family had a typical car loan, it would save that family as 
much as $180 a year.
  For a family that is purchasing a 30-year mortgage on a $50,000 home, 
with 15 percent down, it would mean that it would save them $1,230 of 
their hard-earned money. It means that a family who would be 
purchasing, let us say, a $100,000 home, putting down 15 percent, again 
on a 30-year mortgage, it would mean a savings of $2,160 back to 
families, back helping them in the areas that they should be receiving 
an award.
  We all agree we are facing a tremendous budget crisis. The reason we 
are facing the budget crisis is not because we are taxed too little, it 
is because the Government simply spends too much.
  I know, Mr. Speaker, like all of us that are seated here, we have to 
learn to balance our checkbook. That is what we are really asking the 
Government to do, is not to spend more than it really has.

                              {time}  1915

  The $1.6 trillion in revenue that makes up the President's budget 
request is not the Government's money; it is the product of hard work 
and sacrifice that belongs to American families and Kansas families. It 
is hard earned money. They should be receiving their rewards. The 
Nation's capital does not create wealth. All the money that sits in the 
U.S. Treasury was taken from someone's pocket; that is, the hardworking 
taxpayers.
  I would like to put that money back into the pockets of the American 
people, back to the people of the Second

[[Page H1170]]

District. They simply are taxed too much. We need to make those 
changes. Families deserve tax relief from this crushing tax burden. A 
$500 per child tax credit would benefit the families who need it. It 
would also help single mothers who have incomes less than $25,000 a 
year, helping them specifically.
  A repeal of the estate tax and gift tax would enhance the chance for 
families, family farms and family businesses to succeed and pass it on 
to the next generation. Reducing the capital gains tax would simply 
create more jobs, it would help the economy grow, it would encourage 
better jobs for more people, it would encourage them to work and to 
save more and to invest more. Balancing the budget and relieving the 
American taxpayer, families in general, taking away that crushing tax 
burden is pro-life, Mr. Speaker, and it is imperative that we do it.
  Mr. HULSHOF. I appreciate the inspiring remarks of the gentleman from 
Kansas and am happy to have him as a leader among our newly elected 
Members on the Republican side and of this House.
  Again, Mr. Speaker, as we look for positive solutions to many of the 
problems that lie ahead and as we as a class forge our identity and we 
help to create the vision for the future, we are happy tonight to focus 
on the family, and in that way I yield to my friend from Alabama, Mr. 
Aderholt.
  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, this evening as some of my colleagues are 
doing, I would like to take a few minutes to share my thoughts about 
the American family.
  I believe there is nothing more important than strengthening families 
in America today. As Representatives in Congress, we should ever be 
mindful of the role we play in supporting America's families. It is 
because of this belief that I intend to do everything in my power, the 
power given to me by the people of the Fourth District of Alabama, to 
take a stand on the issues that are affecting our Nation's families.
  Two of the greatest gifts I believe that we can give our children are 
a balanced budget and lower taxes. We need to cut spending and reduce 
the tax burden to make sure that we have strong economic growth so that 
our children and our children's children can enjoy the same benefits 
that we have been given.
  It is time for the Federal Government to take responsibility for its 
decisions and their effect on the American people. Federal spending 
should be reined in and controlled. Reducing the growth of Federal 
spending is the way to get a balanced budget, not by taking more money 
from hardworking people who are already struggling to make ends meet.
  By balancing the budget, a middle-class family easily saves $1,500 
per year. Who do you know would turn down having an extra $1,500 per 
year in their pocket?
  Another pressing concern for families is taxes. The American family 
is the most heavily taxed entity in the Nation. As has been pointed out 
several times here tonight, the average family in 1954 were paying just 
about 2 percent of its adjusted gross income in Federal income taxes. 
Today that figure has soared to 25 percent. And when you add State and 
local taxes, the average family of four pays almost 40 percent of its 
income in taxes. Forty percent. That is more than most families spend 
on housing, clothing, and food combined.
  The strain of meeting America's crushing tax burden has forced many 
homemakers into the work force, reducing the amount of time that 
parents spend with their children by approximately one-half. Part of 
the Republican agenda is to allow families the opportunity to spend 
more time together. By giving men and women the option to choose 
comptime instead of overtime, they are given the chance to spend more 
time with their families.
  Last, tonight as we focus on the issue of abortion on the House floor 
tomorrow, an issue that greatly affects the very existence of families, 
I would like to state my unwavering commitment to restoring respect for 
human life, born and unborn, in the 105th Congress. As we consider the 
partial birth abortion ban, I ask my colleagues to consider the words 
of Mother Theresa, who once stated that abortion is the greatest 
destroyer of peace today. It is a war against the child, a direct 
killing of the innocent child. Let us put an end to this brutal 
procedure that has taken the lives of so many babies each year and 
every day.
  In closing, recently I brought a resolution to the floor that would 
reaffirm the role of the Ten Commandments as a cornerstone of a fair 
and just society. I believe that this symbolic gesture is important in 
reaffirming the Judeo-Christian values on which this Nation was 
founded.
  As Representatives in Congress, we should always be mindful of the 
role that we play in setting the course of the American family. This is 
an awesome responsibility. But with God's help to see the right, we can 
make this great Nation a city on the hill.
  Mr. HULSHOF. I appreciate the gentleman's remarks and especially his 
efforts and was happy that his resolution the week before last did pass 
this body.
  I am happy, Mr. Speaker, to yield to a good friend from Texas, Mr. 
Sessions. Of the 32 new Members on the Republican side, Mr. Speaker, 30 
of us sought congressional seats for the first time this time. My 
friend from Texas and I, however, gave it a shot back in 1994.
  Mr. SESSIONS. I thank the gentleman from Missouri for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, tonight what we are talking about in plain and simple 
terms is not only stronger families for a better America, but what we 
are talking about is how American families are going to survive in the 
1990's and in the future. Tonight we have heard discussion after 
discussion, person after person offer an argument for the best thing 
that we can do for America's families. Of course, Mr. Speaker, I would 
say that that is that we need to balance the budget.
  The last time the budget was balanced was in 1969, when President 
Lyndon B. Johnson was President. I know that we can improve the lives 
and the conditions for families through lower interest rates, on homes, 
cars, college loans and through more job opportunities, now and in our 
future. But it is time that we do that now, and it is now time that we 
say we must have a balanced budget.
  The result of a balanced budget according to a DRI/McGraw Hill study 
is that there would be a drop in the 30-year Treasury bond rate to 4.5 
percent. It is now over 7.5 percent, so you can see that that is 
an astonishing drop of 3 percent. This would cause fixed rate mortgages 
to drop by the rate of 2.7 percent which would cause housing starts to 
rise to 65,000 units.

  What would this mean? For the people who I represent in Texas in the 
5th Congressional District, this would mean that there would be a 
savings of over $1,230 a year on the average home mortgage, $216 for a 
student loan, and $180 on average for a car loan. That is why we must 
balance the budget. It will provide real savings for working families, 
and instead of taking a second job to meet the financial needs of the 
family, parents might find that they have more time to spend with their 
families.
  What we do here in Washington does have a real impact on the lives of 
families throughout this country. We must show the courage and the 
discipline it takes to balance the budget. Our spending entitlements 
continue to grow each year. That means that money available for 
discretionary spending on programs such as education, welfare, 
Medicare, Medicaid, will continue to decrease. We simply cannot allow 
that to happen.
  Reducing the cost of government means lower taxes for working 
families. It means preserving, protecting and strengthening Medicare 
and Social Security. It means returning enough money to my home in the 
State of Texas to cover the cost of a good education for all of our 
children and taking care of all of our citizens.
  It is important that we constantly ask ourselves what we pass in the 
way of legislation, will that cause a burden or a reduction on 
America's families?
  I am glad today that we voted for the Working Families Flexibility 
Act. This is exactly what we need to be doing. It will allow all 
workers to have the option of either overtime pay or extra time off. 
This would allow working mothers and fathers the choice of taking time 
off to do the following things: Perhaps to take their children to 
school for the first day of school, watching a school pageant, 
attending a parent-teacher conference, or staying

[[Page H1171]]

at home with a sick child. I believe we are on the right track. This 
bill would give greater freedom to families in Texas and also those all 
around the country to raise and educate their children.
  Texans and Americans are counting on us to get the job done. If we 
can educate ourselves about the benefits of balancing the budget and 
the dire consequences of continuing these deficits, we will have the 
discipline to do the right thing. I say, let us balance the budget now.
  Having laid out these facts for you tonight, for the American people, 
I would just like to leave them with a few questions.
  First, how could your family survive year after year spending more 
money than it earned?
  Second, what could your family do with extra money if at the time we 
balance the budget, we deducted $500 off the top 6 those families's 
taxes for each child that they are trying to raise?
  And, third, what would you think of your Member of Congress if that 
person misled you and did not balance the budget?
  Mr. HULSHOF. I appreciate the gentleman's remarks and his courage and 
discipline, not only for the Members of his district in Texas but for 
the country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.
  Mr. PEASE. I thank my colleague from Missouri for the leadership he 
has provided, not only this evening but throughout this Congress to 
date.
  Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with some of my 
constituents from the Disabled American Veterans, Indiana Chapter. 
While speaking with them, Jim Powers, a disabled Hoosier veteran 
commented: ``Family is all that is important. Without it, nothing else 
aside from faith much matters.''
  Jim was speaking from personal experience. Having been married for 38 
years, he and his wife are fortunate enough to have their family close 
at hand in Indiana. One of the most important roles Jim has the 
opportunity to play is grandfather. He and his two granddaughters are 
fortunate that they see each other every day, and he is significantly 
involved in their personal development. He cherishes the closeness of 
his family. Though I wish this were true for every family, the 
statistics today are quite disheartening. Many, many individuals are 
disconnected from family members while others search for anything that 
remotely resembles a family unit. Those who lack a traditional family 
find themselves without the togetherness, stability and aid in times of 
need that faith and families provide.
  In the past, the system to rectify this increasingly common 
shortcoming has been to increase Federal funding of welfare and social 
services. Unfortunately, this system of increasing Federal spending and 
trying to supplant the family unit with a bureaucratic machine has 
proven inefficient, ineffective and in many cases actually destructive 
of families.
  Now the trend is moving many of these services away from the Federal 
Government to the States and local governments. While I do believe this 
is a step in the right direction, I am increasingly certain that it is 
not enough simply to shift these programs from Washington to the States 
and local governments, for in many cases the lack of a family unit, the 
real heart of our social problems, will still exist no matter which 
government spends the money.
  We certainly cannot legislate a traditional family for all those who 
lack one. However, we can, through legislation, encourage and provide 
support for private charities and faith-based institutions to assist in 
the roles of support and family services which so many desperately 
need.
  Tax deductions for charitable contributions must be maintained. And 
the implementation of tax credits for charitable contributions to 
organizations which perform social services can help those Americans 
who need a family unit or support for their existing families. Services 
such as counseling and educational funding, health services, youth 
programs and elderly assistance can all be administered through private 
organizations, such as scouting, YM and YWCA's and Habitat for 
Humanity, among others, and faith-based institutions.

                              {time}  1930

  The 105th Congress is taking measures to ensure the strengthening of 
families. One thing above all is clear. Our Government cannot and 
should not try to be a replacement for the traditional family. Instead 
we must call on our local charities, churches, and community 
organizations to expand their role in providing support to families in 
stress and to rebuilding families that have disintegrated.
  The private partnership of neighbor helping neighbor has been one of 
the great traditions of this Nation. We in the Congress must find ways 
to strengthen, not supplant, that tradition. When we do, our families 
and thus the Nation will be the stronger.
  Mr. HULSHOF. I appreciate the gentleman's comments.
  Mr. Speaker, I know time is drawing short, and I yield to the 
gentleman from South Dakota [Mr. Thune].
  Mr. THUNE. I want to thank my colleague from Missouri and the many 
other of our freshman class who have joined us here this evening to 
talk about things that are important to the American family.
  Mr. Speaker, the Declaration of Independence, our founders, 
articulated what is one of the most profound and simple statements of 
self-government that the world has ever seen, and yet they said that 
all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable rights and among these are the right to life, to 
liberty, to the pursuit of happiness. In order to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from 
the consent of the governed.
  In that very basic statement, we have become the model for the world 
and people from all over the world come here; and as Bill Bennett has 
described the gates test, that is what happens when you open your 
gates; do people want to get in or do they want to get out? In America 
people are flocking to come here because of the things that we stand 
for and have stood for over the years.
  I had the opportunity here a couple of weeks back to take my 9-year-
old and my 7-year-old to the Lincoln Memorial, and as we went up the 
two flights of steps and there he was, honest Abe in all his glory, the 
big statue, my 7-year-old remarked, I did not realize that he was so 
big; and we had to explain that that was not his actual size, his feet 
really were not this long.
  But as I thought about her statement, I thought to myself in many 
ways he was big. He was in terms of his ideals, his principles, his 
convictions. The things that he stood for are many of the things that 
motivated me to run for office, things like freedom, things like 
equality, things like a belief that government should not do for 
people. Only it should do for people only those things that they cannot 
do for themselves.
  And we have heard this evening from a number of our colleagues 
talking about the important priorities that we see in terms of this 
Congress and the things that we can accomplish to advance freedom, 
freedom for families. We had a vote today on a bill that would give 
families more flexibility, more freedom, more opportunities to spend 
time with each other. We will vote tomorrow on a bill that respects the 
sanctity of life, one of those unalienable rights that we heard about 
earlier in the Declaration of Independence. And last year we had an 
opportunity and we are seeing the effects of it this year to vote on 
welfare reform, which in my judgment provides more freedom for 
families, it restores self-respect, self-sufficiency, independence, and 
I think we are seeing the fruits of that bill that was enacted last 
year. We have already seen welfare cases drop 15 percent between 
January 1995 and September 1996.
  And so as we talk about these various issues throughout this 
Congress, I think those are the things that we as a class want very 
much to keep at the forefront of the agenda. We talk about the rights 
that we as a country enumerated and established when our founders and 
their great foresight laid down the Declaration of Independence. They 
talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that is 
really

[[Page H1172]]

what we are about is giving our children an opportunity to pursue 
happiness, to enjoy the freedoms and the liberty that we have in this 
country and to respect the right for life.
  Mr. HULSHOF. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's comments.
  Mr. Speaker, to conclude as we have discussed newly elected 
Republican Members, as we try to create and help fashion a vision for 
our country tonight, we have focused on strengthening the families in 
ways that this body can provide family friendly legislation such as the 
measure we passed today. Our message is rooted in hope and in optimism 
because that is indeed what our country was founded on.

                          ____________________