[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H613-H614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF REPUBLICAN MAJORITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Tiahrt) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, the Republican Congress has much to be proud 
of, and the American people who elected us should take heart in the 
dramatic shift in how our government in Washington is perceived by 
those it serves.
  When I was elected to Congress in November of 1994, the economy and 
American businesses were reeling from the effects of the largest tax 
increase in the history of America. Our Nation was also facing a $200 
billion deficit each year for the next 10 years.
  However, in 1994, the American electorate turned and supported 
Republicans around the Nation and endorsed their promise to lower taxes 
and balance the budget. No longer would Washington spend money it did 
not have on programs we did not need.
  In 1995, the American people entrusted the new Republican majority 
with the reigns of Congress, handing them the gavel for the first time 
in 40 years.
  Mr. Speaker, some will tell you that our prosperous economy and our 
recently restrained budget had nothing to do with the revolution of 
1994. They might even say that the political implications of the 1994 
election were overstated.

[[Page H614]]

  They are wrong. The electoral revolution of 1994 lives today. Each of 
us in the Republican majority should stand proud and tall, knowing that 
if American people had not given their trust to us in 1994, and renewed 
it in 1996, our economy would not be surging, our budget would not be 
balanced; we would not have had the first tax cut in 16 years, and the 
stock market would not have more than doubled in just three years. Each 
of us in the Republican majority can take pride in the new-found hope 
and confidence of our Nation.
  I stand here not to boast of our accomplishments, but to thank the 
American people for their well-placed trust, and I pledge to them that 
those of us in the Republican majority will put the needs of families 
first, always. You see, families do come first, for me, and for the 
Republican majority.
  This afternoon I am proud to say that when I cast votes in this 
session of the 105th Congress to reduce taxes on the American family, 
to reform government and its overreaching involvement in our lives, and 
to restore our precious and sacred rights, including the most 
fundamental of all, the right-to-life, I will think of a new little 
Kansan named Jason Robert Searl, Jr., because it is his future, along 
with the future of all our children, that we determine when we vote in 
this sacred chamber.
  He was born just three days before Christ's birthday at 5:18 in the 
evening at Via Christi Hospital's St. Francis Campus, in Wichita, 
Kansas. Really, I should not call him little, because he weighed 8 
pounds and 10 ounces and was over 20 inches long.
  I want to salute and warmly congratulate Chrissy and Jason Searl. I 
want to thank them for having the courage to take the toughest job in 
our world, parenting. I pledge to them and all others who place their 
trust in the Republican majority that we will continue to live up to 
the promises we made to all of them, including little Jason.

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