[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 125 (Thursday, September 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H8561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              AMERICA HAS OVERPAID THE COST OF GOVERNMENT

  (Mr. TIAHRT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TIAHRT. Mr. Speaker, imagine going to McDonald's and ordering a 
nine-piece chicken nuggets and a large drink. The cost is $4.50. You 
give the clerk a $5 bill. The clerk takes your money, gives you the 
chicken and the drink but no change. So you ask, where is my fifty 
cents? And the clerk says, well, I could give you the fifty cents, but 
then I would have to trust you to spend it right.
  Well, you would be appalled. You would be angry. It is your money. 
But, Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what will happen if the President 
vetoes the tax cut.
  America has overpaid the cost of government. We locked up all Social 
Security. We have protected all of Medicare payments. We are even 
paying down the publicly held debt, and still we have money left over. 
We have overpaid the cost of government. The change is ours.
  Well, the President does not trust us to spend it right. He has even 
publicly said so. But I trust you, the Republicans trust you, and I 
hope the President will change his mind and trust America and give us 
back our change and sign the tax relief law.

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