[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 10 (Thursday, January 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          DEMOCRATS RAISE TAXES AFTER ONLY TWO WEEKS IN POWER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. Madam Speaker, on the first day that Republicans took 
control of the Congress in 1995, one of their very first actions was to 
establish a rule that required a supermajority, or three-fifths vote, 
to raise taxes. This was a good thing, Madam Speaker. On the very first 
day of Congress in 2007, however, the Democrats established new rules 
in this Chamber to make it easier to raise taxes with a simple majority 
vote.
  And now, after just 2 weeks in power, the Democrats, our colleagues, 
have already passed legislation today to raise taxes. What is worse, 
the taxes that are collected under this new bill will not be going 
toward deficit reduction or toward paying down the Federal debt. The 
money is going to be set aside in a special account for more spending.
  In Minnesota, we had a phrase when we were in session. We said, hold 
on to your wallets. And we can say that to the American people right 
now.
  As a Federal tax litigation attorney myself, as a small business 
owner with my husband Marcus, and as a mother to Lucas, Harrison, 
Elisa, Caroline, and Sophia, and our 23 foster children, I can tell you 
as a parent the best way to grow an economy, the best way to raise more 
jobs is not to raise taxes but to let people, families, keep more of 
their hard-earned money.
  In 2003, tax relief was passed, and the great thing is that 7.2 
million jobs were created. In fact, our economy has been adding jobs 
for 40 straight months. The unemployment rate is incredibly low, at 4.5 
percent, well below the average of the last 40 years.
  Nowhere are the results more evident, Madam Speaker, than in my home 
State of Minnesota, which has closed out the calendar year with 54,000 
more jobs than at the end of 2005, the strongest job growth since 1999. 
Our State's annual job growth rate of 2 percent has outpaced the 
national rate of 1.4 percent. Our unemployment rate is the envy of the 
Nation, phenomenally low at 4.2 percent.
  Meanwhile, tax revenues are absolutely surging into the Treasury. 
Guess what? Federal receipts rose 14 percent in 2005, 11 percent in 
2006, and they kept rising by 9 percent the first 2 months of 2007. 
These are the highest consecutive revenue increases in the past 25 
years.
  America, did you hear that? The highest revenue increases in the past 
25 years. They come on the heels of the largest tax relief measures in 
American history.

                              {time}  1900

  And the budget deficit, in turn, has fallen $165 billion over 2 
years. And just as the economy is gaining tremendous momentum, now, 
unfortunately, my Democrat colleagues are saying, this is the time to 
raise taxes.
  Madam Speaker, I have learned very quickly in the few days I have 
been here in Washington, D.C., that facts don't always get in the way 
of people's opinions here in this fair city. But it is hard to dispute 
3 years of unparalleled prosperity.
  It is important that we recognize what tax relief does for the 
average American. It gives us money, a chance to grow a business, a 
chance to raise our kids while growing the economy and raising a lot 
more jobs in the process.
  I urge my colleagues here in this Chamber, my esteemed colleagues who 
I have come to respect, to reject new taxes. Instead, let's do this. 
Let's work to make the tax reduction rates permanent now, while we can, 
and continue to reduce the overall tax burden.
  The American people deserve our best, and the colleagues here are the 
best from across the country. Let's do that for the American people.

                          ____________________