[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H2607-H2608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THE ESSENCE OF THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA LIES IN ITS PEOPLE, NOT IN ITS 
                               GOVERNMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, it's interesting 
sitting on the floor listening to the speeches during this period of 
time.
  On the one hand, I listened to the gentleman from Virginia talk about 
a bipartisan approach to deal with our problem of fiscally 
irresponsibility and the load of debt that we are placing on our 
children and grandchildren. On the other hand, I did hear a gentleman 
from the other side of the aisle talk about why it's Bush's fault.
  When I was in school, they were teaching us debate. We talked about 
the ad hominem argument, the personalization of the argument. Usually 
that meant that when you didn't have the facts you tried to make it 
personal.
  There was also discussion by a gentleman from the other side of the 
aisle about the fact that we're finally going to be concerned about the 
people of America, as if those who disagree with you would be people 
who are not interested in Americans. I'm not sure that

[[Page H2608]]

gets us anywhere. As a matter of fact, I think that gets us nowhere. It 
is that kind of quasi-debate which leads down the wrong path.
  We are without a doubt facing a very difficult economic situation, 
and as did others, I returned to my district to talk to constituents 
about that. I had a tele-town hall where we had over 6,000 people on 
the line, and I listened to their comments. I also sent out a 
questionnaire by e-mail, and thus far we've received over 1,800 
responses. I thought it might be informative to tell this body the 
feelings of the people in my district, at least as reflected in this 
survey; although I realize it is not a scientific survey.
  In response to the question, what is the most immediate economic 
concern you face, overwhelmingly, 53 percent of the respondents said 
they were most concerned about declining value of retirement accounts. 
We ought to be very concerned about that, because if we send a message 
to the world that we are fiscally irresponsible, that more and more 
spending and more and more debt is the way to get out of the situation 
that we got into because of spending and debt, those retirement 
accounts are going to lose more value. We ought to be concerned about 
the future, as well as the immediate present.
  Secondly, in response to the question, what is the most important 
element of an economic stimulus package, the number one response was 
tax cuts. Why? Because many of the American people do believe the 
argument that raising taxes in the midst of a recession doesn't make 
sense and that tax cuts, properly articulated, properly enforced, 
create a stimulus to the private sector, particularly the small- and 
medium-sized businesses where the jobs are really created, not the 
government sector. Secondly, the biggest response was, nothing, the 
economy is strongest when government does not interfere. And the third 
response was funding for infrastructure projects. And unfortunately, 
the percentage of money that goes to infrastructure projects is 
relatively small, as is the percentage that goes towards tax cuts.
  The next question: Are you satisfied with the economic stimulus 
package Congress passed? Thirty-four percent of the people in my 
district said, no, the details of the size and scope needed to be 
worked out. Perhaps they thought having less than 24 hours to look at a 
1,076 page bill was inappropriate. The second largest response, 33 
percent, was, no, Congress shouldn't have passed any stimulus package. 
Those are concerned that a stimulus package does not stimulate. And 
third, by a much, much smaller margin, yes, anything the government can 
do is better than nothing.
  The next question: I expect the worse of the economic crisis to be 
over within--and this is truly difficult to read because it said that 
42 percent of the respondents thought it would take 24 months or more. 
Second largest response was 13 to 18 months by 21 percent. And then 17 
percent believe it would be 19 to 24 months. In other words, the 
American people, at least reflected in my district by this survey, 
understand the seriousness and the depth of this economic difficulty.
  And lastly, I asked them: The economic crisis' impact on me is such 
that--and the response, number one, was, I am okay right now, but I'm 
worried about what will happen to me if the economy continues to get 
worse, 59 percent. Thirty-three percent of the people said, I will face 
tough decisions but I will survive. And less than 9 percent said, I do 
not know how I will make it through the time.
  Interesting thing about that response is the resiliency of the 
American people. They do believe, they do have faith that we will get 
out of this, but they believe that we will get out of it through the 
ingenuity, the creativity, the stick-to-it-iveness of the work ethic of 
the American people, not government.
  While certain government programs might be able to assist, we should 
not forget that the essence of the greatness of America lies in its 
people, not in its government. This government reflects its people. 
This government is one that was set up to protect the rights of the 
people but also to be protected against an overweening government. If 
we are to work ourselves out of this economy, we must rely on the 
people for their creativity and do nothing that impinges upon that.

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