[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 44 (Tuesday, April 21, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H2064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              REDUCE TAX BURDEN FOR HARD-WORKING AMERICANS

  (Mr. THUNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Speaker, last week when I was in South Dakota, I 
stopped at a gas station in Aberdeen. The woman working behind the 
counter there gave me a clear message. As I was paying for my gas, she 
looked me in the eye and said, Congressman, working families need lower 
taxes.
  This woman is one of the unsung heroes in America today. She works. 
Her husband works. Together, they are trying to make a car payment, a 
house payment and a day care payment and put food on the table.
  She is not asking for a new government program to help or do any of 
these things. She is just asking the government to take less of her 
paycheck.
  I think that is a pretty reasonable request because, right now, the 
tax burden of this country is 38 percent; and 38 percent of that hard-
working woman's pay is going to the government at the State, local, and 
Federal level. That is inexcusable.
  We need to lighten the load carried by taxpayers and reduce the 
overall tax burden to only 25 percent. God only asked for 10 percent. 
Surely the government can get by with 2\1/2\ times that amount.

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