[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H2333-H2334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN COMMEMORATION OF TAX FREEDOM DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Hampshire [Mr. Sununu] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SUNUNU. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening in commemoration of Tax 
Freedom Day, which this year falls on May 9. Tax Freedom Day is that 
day that Americans work to simply to pay their taxes and obligations to 
their State, Federal and local governments.
  Tax Freedom Day is a symbol of the burden that we put on American 
families all across this country. Over 35 percent of our country's 
national product, what we produce every year is absorbed in taxes by 
our State, Federal and local governments. This is more than the average 
family pays in food, shelter, and clothing combined. Those essentials 
that they need for their daily existence, they pay more in taxes every 
year.
  Mr. Speaker, this burden consumes more and more of our economy every 
year, and it makes it difficult for families to get by. Where they used 
to be able to exist and enjoy a good quality of life with a single wage 
earner, today the typical family is more often required to have two 
wage earners, and that is just not fair. It is the burden that our tax 
system places on that hard-working family.
  Second, taxes represent not just a burden but a price, a price that 
we pay on everything in our economy. It is a price that we pay on 
productive work, it is a price that we pay on savings and investment, 
it is a price that we pay on job creation. And as most people would 
agree, when we raise the price on anything we get less of it, but if we 
lower the price on those things we get more. If we lowered the price 
with lower taxes, we get more productivity, more savings, and more job 
creation, and similarly with the high tax burden that we face today, as 
one would expect, we get lower productivity, lower rates of savings and 
lower rates of job creation.
  Third, the high Federal tax burden that we put on our working 
families keeps control centralized here in Washington. Money, 
particularly in the form of taxes, is power, and if we put all the 
money and all the tax revenues here in Washington, control them from 
here in Washington, it becomes a place of power, as one would expect. 
But if we can take the money out of Washington and put it back in the 
pockets of working Americans, we make Washington less important, and we 
make the family, the individual in a city or town more important.
  And I think fundamentally that is the direction we should be headed 
in. This is, after all, your money that we are talking about. When we 
speak about government revenues or tax revenues, we are talking about 
the hard-

[[Page H2334]]

earned dollars that we collect here in Washington, that we take from 
the individual or the working family or the business and then we 
distribute. We should never forget what the source of that income is.
  So when we talk of lowering taxes and when we talk of Tax Freedom Day 
and the need to move that day back so we work less time to pay our 
taxes, remember we are talking about reducing the burden on families, 
reducing the price that we pay for economic growth and reducing the 
concentration of power here in Washington and giving more freedom and 
more responsibility back to our city or town.
  This past week Congress and the President came to an agreement to try 
to do something about the tax burden Americans face, and our balanced 
budget plan balances our Nation's books for the first time in 30 years, 
provides tax relief that will make a difference for the average working 
family and begin to lift these burdens. A $500 per child tax credit 
that we hope to enact later in this year will put money back in the 
pockets of a typical working family. We certainly hope to enact the 
State tax reform and capital gains tax reform that will stop the burden 
on small and family-owned businesses. What can be more discouraging to 
someone thinking about starting a business than to know if they are 
successful, if they achieve their goals, then the capital gains tax 
rate they will have to pay will be as high as 28 or 30 percent, and 
even worse, if they want to leave that business in their family, they 
can pay a death tax as high as 55 percent.
  And this is not just a tax burden that effects business owners, or 
small or family business owner. It effects every employee that works 
for that business and even the customers that buy the product from a 
small business. It effects every facet of our economy, in small and 
family businesses, or where most of the job creation take place.
  By putting money back in the pockets of working Americans this budget 
plan that we have come to an agreement on this past week will give more 
power and control, more freedom and opportunity to the average 
American.
  Still we cannot lose sight of the long-term goal with regard to 
trying to move back that Tax Freedom Day, and that long-term goal is 
fundamental reform of our tax system, dramatic reform of the Tax Code 
to make it simple and fair. There is nothing more unfair than to have 
working Americans labor under the belief that someone with more money 
or, better, a tax accountant, than they can somehow avoid paying their 
fair share of taxes.
  By moving forward in the end of this session and next session with 
fundamental tax reform, we will continue the fight to put freedom and 
responsibility back in the hands of the average American.

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