[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1394]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE POWER TO TAX IS NOT THE POWER TO DESTROY

  (Mr. JONES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, the most distinguished jurist in American 
history, Oliver Wendell Holmes, understood perfectly the dangers of an 
oppressive tax system. In a famous 1928 case Justice Holmes wrote, and 
I quote, ``The power to tax is not the power to destroy while this 
Court sits.''
  Mr. Speaker, how many new businesses fail because the tax man seizes 
too much of what little profit that business makes. How many new 
businesses would have succeeded if they had not been burdened by tax 
bills they could not afford? How many businesses decided not to expand 
because taxes could eat away at the profits? How many businesses 
decided to locate overseas to escape a tax code that punishes job 
creation?
  Justice Holmes understood even back in 1928 that when the tax burden 
becomes oppressive enterprises are destroyed and jobs are lost. Sixty-
nine years later it is time to learn the lesson; it is time to cut 
taxes on businesses and let job creation flourish.

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