[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 87 (Friday, June 20, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H4090]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      BIG HAT, NO CATTLE; NOT MUCH BEHIND THE DEMOCRATS' RHETORIC

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, I am told in Texas they have a saying that 
means ``All talk but no action.'' In classic Texan, they say, ``Big 
hat, no cattle.'' To me that means there is not much behind the 
rhetoric.
  Mr. Speaker, I am from the great State of Nevada, but I am pretty 
sure that the people of Texas are talking about the Democrats when they 
talk about taxes. Sure, they are all for them, they say, but when it 
comes to giving the middle-class families some real tax relief, all of 
a sudden the middle-class tax cuts get magically transformed into tax 
cuts for the wealthy. Middle-class taxpayers in my district are 
starting to scratch their heads when they hear that some people in 
Washington think they should not get tax relief because suddenly they 
are the rich.
  I think I understand what so many of them start questioning, whether 
some of the people who claim to be for middle-class tax cuts are really 
sincere. Big hat, no cattle. I think Texans are onto something here.

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