[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 150 (Friday, October 31, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2152-E2153]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       LESS FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY AND MORE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB SCHAFFER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 31, 1997

  Mr. BOB SCHAFFER of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, as we debate the merits of 
various federal programs, I urge colleagues to keep in mind the 
benefits of less Federal bureaucracy and more community participation. 
We all recognize how much money is lost or wasted between the Federal 
level and the actual local people who we are trying to help. The best 
form of support we can give Americans is the power to do for 
themselves. This can be achieved by empowering communities closest to 
problems to have the most autonomy in deciding how to meet the 
challenges that face them. On this point, I want to share the thoughts 
of Krista Kafer of Colorado.

       Studying physics taught me a thing or two about government. 
     In an engine, large gears move slowly but with great force. 
     Small gears move with greater speed but less force.

[[Page E2153]]

     Each cog interlocks with the others, doing its part to run 
     the machine. Such laws apply to the mechanics of society. 
     When friends of mine complain that government reform is too 
     slow, I tell them that Washington is not unlike a large gear, 
     powerful but slow. If you want to see immediate change, work 
     at a local charity, run for City Council, join the PTA, put 
     your shoulder to the nearest wheel.
       American society runs by the motion of its different 
     institutions. Families, businesses, charities, churches, 
     community groups, local, state, and federal governments are 
     interlocking gears that drive America. Burning labor, 
     ingenuity, compassion and faith as fuel, the machine reaps 
     the energies of its citizens to provide for the common good.
       Since its inception, America has relied upon the efforts of 
     all of its institutions to care for the needs of its 
     citizens. However, during this century, the brunt of the work 
     has fallen upon the large gear, the federal government, 
     requiring it to provide services once entrusted to other 
     institutions. Overburdened and overused, the federal system 
     has overheated while community, church, business, and family 
     remain under used, free spinning, not fully engaged.
       The federal government is doing things it was never meant 
     to do which is why it does not perform efficiently. It 
     sputters and coughs, lacking the flexibility to adapt to 
     local situations, different speeds, and different conditions. 
     Like an ailing car engine it get poor mileage, burning tax 
     dollars and returning only nickels. We are $5 trillion in 
     debt but not one step further from where we started. With 
     soaring crime, illiteracy, poverty, and illegitimacy, it 
     would seem that we have rolled backward. The war on poverty 
     has failed because it did not engage the whole engine.
       In 1994, Congress began the process of overhauling the 
     engine. Together with innovators and mechanics from the 
     private sector and local governments, it is attempting to 
     spread the work of the large gear to the rest of the engine. 
     For example, since the enactment of the Personal 
     Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (welfare reform), 
     states and counties have joined with private agencies and 
     charities to help record numbers of individuals escape 
     welfare dependency. This is not a trial start. These small 
     gears must prepare themselves to undertake the work of the 
     big gear. Ultimately, we must assume that work because we, 
     the people, turn those gears.
       The prospect of greater freedom and lower taxes must not 
     leave us idle. Freedom is not free. Statistics reveal that 
     the spirit of volunteerism is growing. It must. In the final 
     inspection, we find that it can no longer be the 
     responsibility of someone else to help our neighbors, to 
     teach our children, to run our communities, to conserve our 
     resources, and to enforce ethics and decency in our 
     enterprises. It is ours. The day has passed when we could 
     mind our own business and just take care of our own. This 
     country is our business. It is our own. We must man the crank 
     and turn the gears.

  Mr. Speaker, it is the resourcefulness of the American people that 
made our country so strong. Giving power back to the people is the best 
way to continue the tradition of excellence established so long ago in 
this great Nation.

                          ____________________