[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 102 (Thursday, July 17, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H5407]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     GOVERNMENT CANNOT BUILD PROSPERITY; ONLY FREE INDIVIDUALS CAN

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, I often wonder if the other side has 
forgotten what motivated people from every corner of the globe to come 
to our shores throughout history. Indeed, the forefathers of the very 
same people who reflexively attack the idea of tax cuts as tax cuts for 
the rich came to America to escape government oppression, to escape the 
idea that government has a higher claim to the fruits of your labor 
than you and your family do.
  America as a land of opportunity was not built into a rich and 
prosperous Nation by this way of thinking. In fact, America is a land 
of opportunity for reasons which are exactly the opposite of this way 
of thinking.
  Government cannot build prosperity. Only free individuals can.
  Americans became rich because free individuals had dreams, took 
risks, and worked hard to realize those dreams.
  The other side might wish to remember that their rhetoric has 
absolutely nothing to do with making America more free, nothing to do 
with telling children to dream great dreams, and nothing to do with 
making a nation prosperous. It is very sad to see.

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