[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H10424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            LET US STICK TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

  (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Madam Speaker, last week President Clinton told the 
voters of Virginia, the ones who supported repealing the car tax, that 
they were selfish.
  Well, excuse me, Mr. President, but maybe you have forgotten what the 
Declaration of Independence says. It says that all men are created 
equal and they have certain inalienable rights, and among those rights 
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
  I find it remarkable that anyone would not notice that liberty and 
the pursuit of happiness both apply to the idea of who gets to decide 
what to do with their money. That is really the point. This is not a 
question of selfishness, but whether and who will decide how to spend 
their money.
  Conservatives emphasize that people are the best judge of how their 
money should be spent, whereas liberals tend to think that politicians 
are a superior judge of how and where the money should be spent, 
especially if they, the liberals, are positively excited about spending 
the people's money to carry out social engineering plans.
  As for me, I think I will stick with the original intent of the 
American Declaration of Independence.

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