[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 111 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H6622]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
        THREAT TO FREEDOM, TOO MUCH POWER IN HANDS OF GOVERNMENT

  (Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, when the Founders were 
debating the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787, one of the most 
important subjects of debate concerned what they considered to be 
threats to freedom.
  Some thought that too much government power was the greatest threat 
to freedom. Some thought that too much power in the hands of the 
majority would be a threat to the freedom of minorities.
  Men like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote extensively about 
these threats to freedom, and they were right. Today I would like to 
call special attention to the threat to freedom that Thomas Jefferson 
feared the most, too much power in the hands of government. When the 
government takes nearly one-half of a family's income, government has 
too much power.
  Today we consider whether to take a cue from President Jefferson and 
reduce the power of government by passing the tax relief package 
currently before Congress, before us now, and to return the authority 
to the very families that sent us here to do the job.

                          ____________________