[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 63 (Friday, May 19, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H2894]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          REVEALING THE TRUTH

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, sometimes it takes a heated exchange to 
reveal the truth. People say things they would not normally say, or 
reflect their true thinking.
  For instance, while debating the budget the other night, a member of 
the Republican leadership said, ``If you earn $40,000 a year and have a 
family of two, you don't pay any taxes.'' Well, that would be news to 
that middle-class family.
  According to the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, middle-class 
families paid an average of 13.6 percent of their income in Federal 
taxes in 2003. Additionally, these hardworking families pay State 
income taxes, property taxes, gasoline taxes, and sales taxes. If 
anything, middle-class families are paying too much in taxes.
  But the truth serum clearly did not wear off, because the next day 
the same member of the Republican leadership sent out a press release 
titled ``Fiscal Responsibility is Not an Option in This House.''
  After 5 years of record budget deficits of $3 trillion in new debt, 
for a total of $9.6 trillion of debt, never were truer words spoken in 
that press release.
  Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the truth about the Republican Congress 
has finally come out. Now the American people have a choice between 
leadership and the Republican Party that cuts taxes on the wealthy and 
leaves trillions of dollars of debt for the rest of us.
  As Ronald Reagan once said, ``Facts are a stubborn thing.'' Mr. 
Speaker, it is time for a change. It is time for new priorities. It is 
time to give the people back their House.

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