[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E633]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE TAX FREEDOM RESOLUTION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. SAM JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 1997

  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today, I will introduce the 
Tax Freedom Resolution to repeal the 16th amendment to the 
Constitution. This resolution will reverse one of the most destructive 
amendments to the U.S. Constitution and deny Congress the ability to 
lay and collect taxes on income.
  I believe that the 16th amendment has created a system that is 
economically destructive, impossibly complex, overly intrusive, 
unprincipled, dishonest, unfair, and inefficient. Now is the time for 
us to restore freedom to the American taxpayer.
  The tax freedom bill is the first step to do that. It will encourage 
an open, honest an constructive debate about why our current tax 
structure has failed and what we expect in a new system.
  Why do we need to repeal the 16th amendment? Let me tell you. The 
current system cannot be fixed. It has already undergone 31 major 
revisions and 400 minor ones in the past 40 years. And each time the 
system has become more and more complicated, not less.
  The IRS has 480 different tax forms, plus 280 more to explain how to 
fill out the first 480. The original Tax Code had 11,400 words; today 
it has 7 million.
  Our current system also discourages savings and investment and 
hampers economic growth. Complying with the Federal Tax Code costs 
taxpayers more than $200 billion each year. In 1991, the tax foundation 
reported that small corporations spent a minimum of $382 in compliance 
costs for every $100 they paid in income taxes.
  In addition, several economists have said that replacing the current 
tax system will cause interest rates to go down and savings and capital 
investments to increase.
  Right now, we have a system that stifles opportunity by picking 
winners and losers; a system in which Washington decides what is best 
for the people, instead of letting the people decide what is best for 
America.
  The Federal Government simply takes too much money out of people's 
pockets. As recently as 1982, Americans paid only 19.90 percent of 
their income in taxes. New data reveals that in 1995 Americans paid 
31.3 percent of their income in taxes: The highest level in history.
  By embracing the principles of freedom, we can create a system that 
is fair and simple that reduces the Federal Bureaucracy, that 
encourages savings and investment, that is efficient, that drives the 
economy, that creates opportunity for all, and that puts more money in 
your pocket.
  Fundamental and comprehensive tax reform will be one of the most 
profound changes this Nation experiences this century. It is time for 
all of us--whether you support a flat tax, a consumption tax, a value 
added tax, or a national sales tax--to come together and focus on our 
one common goal: Replacing the current system. The tax freedom bill 
gives us the chance to do that and at the same time restore freedom to 
the American taxpayer.

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