[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1930-S1931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          STATE OF THE ECONOMY

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, on Monday the distinguished majority 
leader took to the floor and bemoaned the state of our economy, calling 
our economic future bleak. As surprised as I was by those comments, I 
thought it was even more important to come down to the floor and to 
respond and to provide, I think, a much different picture than that 
depicted by the distinguished majority leader.
  It is ironic the same date those comments were made, the Associated 
Press reported a story that leads with this paragraph:

       The deficit for the first four months of the current budget 
     year is down sharply from the same period a year ago as the 
     government continues to benefit from record levels of tax 
     collections.
       The Treasury Department reported Monday that the deficit 
     for the budget year that began October 1 was down 57.2 
     percent from the same period a year ago.

  That same article goes on to say:

       The continued strong growth in revenues reflects the record 
     profits corporations have been recording in recent years and 
     the low levels of unemployment, which means more Americans 
     are working and paying taxes.

  If this is ``bleak'' economic news, I would love to see what good 
economic news might look like.
  I have a few charts that provide a more accurate picture of exactly 
where we stand in terms of the American economy today. This first chart 
demonstrates for 21 consecutive quarters we have seen the U.S. economy 
grow, including the latest quarter where the economy grew by 3.5 
percent.
  We have seen since August 2003, employment has expanded over 41 
consecutive months--creating 7.4 million new jobs in America. This 
timeframe is not accidental. In 2003, we passed some of the tax relief 
which is largely responsible for giving the American worker greater 
incentive to work hard and to save their money and invest it in their 
small business, thus creating jobs and opportunity for all Americans. 
This has created the sort of freedom that is always demonstrated in the 
strength of our burgeoning economy. It is as a result of not Government 
action per se but, rather, the freedom we have given the economy and 
the hard-working American taxpayer to keep more of what they earn and 
creating an incentive for them to work hard and be able to earn more to 
support their family and their way of life.
  The third chart demonstrates the economic picture is not as the 
distinguished majority leader said, ``bleak'' but demonstrates that 
revenue to the Federal Treasury has exceeded all historical precedent. 
Indeed, this last projection is that in 2007 we will see it increase by 
18.5 percent, and you can see above the line on this chart that 
represents historical averages. Each of the following years leading up 
to 2012 will exceed that historical average. Again, the economy is 
stronger than ever and continues to grow because of our current low tax 
and progrowth policies.
  Unfortunately, this is a lesson that Washington sometimes forgets 
because when given the opportunity, the instinct of Washington is to 
increase Federal revenue by increasing taxes. I don't think you need to 
know much about human nature to know that high taxes decrease the 
incentive we all have to work hard. What that does is actually have a 
wet-blanket effect on the economy and on the ability of small 
businesses and employers to create jobs which create the kind of 
economic growth and the kind of revenue our tax system generates as a 
result of strong economic activity.
  I am worried that even with the current continuing resolution that is 
in the Senate now that cuts $3.1 billion from defense spending at a 
time when we are trying to bring our troops home from Europe and Asia 
and to provide them a place to come home to, that the solution offered 
by the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Appropriations is 
``Don't worry, we will add that money back in when we get to the 
supplemental appropriations bill.''
  The problem with that is the $3.1 billion that has been spent out of 
the current continuing resolution or Omnibus appropriations bill on 
things other than our military, that money has now been spent on other 
programs that are favored by the new majority. What they are saying is, 
instead of spending $3.1 billion, we will spend $6.2 billion--the $3.1 
on things other than defense, but we will come back later and make the 
defense budget whole but in a way that aggravates the budget deficit.

[[Page S1931]]

  Of course, the consequence of that kind of spending policy which has 
a tendency to aggravate the deficit lays the groundwork for our 
colleagues on the other side to say, the American people are not taxed 
enough. We need to actually raise taxes in order to generate more 
revenue to pay for this additional spending.
  This is exactly the kind of response we do not need. As demonstrated 
by the charts, as demonstrated by the booming economy, we have, as a 
result of the low tax policy and the progrowth policies of the last 6 
years, the American economy could not be stronger or better.
  I hope we will all be edified by this factual data demonstrated on 
the charts and that the misimpression that the distinguished majority 
leader was under when he called the economy bleak will be now 
disabused. I hope he will see from the charts and from my comments--not 
because I said it but because this is what the facts demonstrate--the 
low tax and progrowth policies we have had over the last 6 years have 
served the American people very well and that 7.4 million new jobs have 
been created in America since August 2003. That, indeed, should be what 
we are all about.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Idaho is 
recognized.
  Mr. CRAIG. The Senator from Colorado is going to speak a little 
longer, but he has agreed I can interject myself but for a moment.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is recognized.

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