[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H3004-H3005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  REPUBLICANS STAND FOR EMPOWERING INDIVIDUALS BY LOWERING TAX BURDEN

  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to some of the 
speeches from my very distinguished colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle, and I have yet to hear anyone talk about this issue of tax 
freedom day.
  I was stunned when I first saw the chart the gentleman from Staten 
Island, New York (Mr. Fossella) used during his speech, which sees this 
continued increase in the time during which people have to work for the 
government before they can keep even a nickel for themselves.

[[Page H3005]]

  We in this Congress stand firmly for empowering individuals and 
making sure that they can make choices for themselves. How better can 
we do that than by allowing them to keep more of their own hard-earned 
dollars?
  I have introduced legislation calling for a reduction in the top rate 
on capital gains. We are considering a complete overhaul of the 
Internal Revenue Code, whether we go towards a flat rate tax or a 
consumption tax. We want to make sure that rather than May 11, that 
people much, much earlier will be able to begin saving some of their 
own dollars rather than having to work to keep this Federal Government 
going.
  So we stand, on this side, firmly for reducing that tax burden on 
working families. Unfortunately, my friends want to talk about all 
kinds of other stuff.

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