[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 148 (Friday, October 16, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H11033]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 A REPUBLICAN SURPLUS CONGRESS BRINGS GREAT BENEFITS FOR THE AMERICAN 
                                 PEOPLE

  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, unfortunately, it is the nature of politics 
that we never get everything we want. But when the American people 
support a general direction in which we want to go, small victories do 
become possible.
  Yesterday's agreement between Congress and the White House on the 
remaining spending bills represent a victory for those seeking to take 
this country in the direction that the Republicans have been trying to 
go, the direction of smaller government, holding the line on spending, 
local control of education, tax relief, a stronger military, and more 
weapons for the war on drugs.
  After many months of difficult negotiations, an agreement has been 
reached that reflects the priorities of a Republican Congress. This 
Congress can properly be called the surplus Congress. Just a short time 
ago, Congress was facing $200 billion deficits as far as the eye could 
see. Anyone proposing to end that was immediately labeled as an 
extremist by liberal Members on the other side of the aisle.
  Here we are, with a Federal budget that has a surplus at hand. Now, I 
know that there are a number of Democrats who fervently believe that 
the current budget surplus is due to President Clinton's 1993 tax 
increase, but they are wrong.
  Federal revenues are up, way up, but I would suggest to my friends on 
the other side to examine the budget tables and take a look at where 
those revenues are coming from. I am fairly confident that they have 
not done that, because if they had, they would discover that strong job 
growth and the booming stock market are primarily responsible for those 
increased revenues, and not the Clinton tax hike.
  The funny thing is that no matter how many times this is pointed out, 
the liberals continue to go on thinking that it was a tax hike, 
Clinton's tax hike, that put us on the right track, out of budget 
deficits. Not to belabor the point, but it is important to know the 
truth about this very important issue.
  To those on the other side who are still not convinced, despite the 
fact that the budget tables are available for the whole world to see, 
they only need to consider the President's own budget a mere 2 years 
ago. In the 1996 budget, 3 years after the Clinton tax hike, it 
contained $200 billion-a-year budget deficits as far as the eye could 
see past the end of this century, into the next century.
  It was not until a Republican Congress forced the President to accept 
a balanced budget that the surplus actually became a reality. The 
deficit Congress was transformed into a surplus Congress.
  The primary reason why a balanced budget benefits the average person 
is because it makes lower interest rates. That means it is easier to 
buy a house and to make monthly mortgage payments. It means those 
credit card debts are a little easier to pay off. It means that young 
people who want to go on and further their education have an easier 
time paying off student loans. Most important of all, lower interest 
rates mean business can expand more easily and create new jobs, and job 
creation, economic growth, means higher revenues.
  Mr. Speaker, this shows that the cuts on the capital gains taxes were 
important in a couple of ways. Federal revenues from capital gains 
realizations are way up, and low taxes on capital investments mean more 
capital invested.

  Ronald Reagan cut the taxes on capital gains. This Republican 
Congress did it again. The results are that capital investments have 
soared, and liberals on left are scratching their heads, wondering why 
the economy is booming. It is not rocket science and it is not magic. 
The Republicans were elected in 1994 to change the course after 40 
years of Democrat rule; 40 years in the direction of bigger government, 
higher taxes, and less accountability.
  As we approach the final actions of this surplus Congress, I am glad 
that we have held fast to Republican principles of limited growth in 
the Federal Government, of tax relief, stronger schools, safer streets, 
a better military, a balanced budget, and a $70 billion Federal 
surplus.

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