[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 23, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H5580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            REPUBLICAN SHIP OF STATE SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL

  (Mr. GUTIERREZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, I read some alarming news lately about a 
ship spinning wildly out of control. Power was mysteriously cut but 
nobody could say who pulled the plug. The ship's commander was 
suffering from nervous palpitations. Rumors spread that he could not 
fulfill his duties or that his whole crew might have to abandon ship.
  People said, ``They've been up there too long, it's time to bring 
them down.''
  Were these the reports of the Russian spaceship Mir floating high 
above? No, it was the Republican ``ship of state'' right here on 
Capitol Hill spinning out of control, losing power, a nervous captain 
at the helm. Like the cosmonauts in outer space, the Republicans are 
far removed from people here on the ground.
  How else can we explain the GOP tax bill, a bill with tax cuts for 
the wealthiest but nothing, zero, for parents working full time to stay 
above the poverty level? There is only one explanation for tax cuts 
that are upside down. They must have been written in the weightless 
atmosphere of outer space.
  In the last Congress, the Republicans had a Contract With America. 
Today they have lost contact with Earth.

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