[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 103 (Friday, July 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H7998-H8000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          WE NEED TO CUT TAXES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, the people of this country many 
times get so frustrated because they think that we here in Congress 
don't hear them, we don't listen to them. I have a couple of letters 
here I would like to read into the Record--at least part of them--so 
that my colleagues in the House can get some flavor for what the people 
in mid-America are thinking right now.
  This letter is from a lady named Emmaline P. Henn in Huntington, 
Indiana. And she says: ``Dear Congressman Burton, it was great to hear 
you and speak with you at Huntington's Lincoln Day Dinner, but we want 
to stress the things we said then. We do have confidence in you''--
which I really appreciate.
  She says: ``We are appalled by what is happening in Washington. Now 
in our 80s, we have seen many administrations; none has been as 
frightening as this one. In less than 6 months, President Obama and his 
team have drawn the U.S. Government deep into private business. The 
government's business is governing, not business.
  ``There is no doubt the President and his team have taken us far on 
the road to socialism, so far that we fear there may be no return. 
Their spending is out of this world, and it will not save the economy.
  ``In the long run, bailouts don't work. The health care issue, the 
credit card issue, the card check issue, and more, are taking us far 
from free enterprise and are causing many citizens to give up on self-
reliance and responsibility in favor of relying on the government. 
There is little incentive for talented people to innovate, work hard, 
and create business. What a terrible lesson.
  ``We pray you fight for this movement. At the same time, we pray you 
will support keeping the United States safe in every way you possibly 
can.''
  You can hear the frustration in this lady by the way her letter 
sounds. But then there is another one here from a

[[Page H7999]]

General Motors dealer in Wabash, Indiana. And I will just read part of 
this letter because I think it really--I want to put the whole thing in 
the Record, but I want to read part of it because it tells you the 
frustration that small business people have in this country.
  It is from David and Kay Dorais. And she says: ``My husband, David 
Dorais, and I are the owners and operators of Dorais Chevrolet in 
Wabash, Indiana. This business was started over 60 years ago by my 
husband's grandfather, Gus Dorais.
  ``Gus was the first All American in football from Notre Dame 
University. He came to Wabash, Indiana, from Detroit. He began a 
Chevrolet dealership operating under the philosophy of `give back to 
the community that has given so much to you.' This is the philosophy we 
have strived to operate under.
  ``We have always been extremely loyal to General Motors and to our 
community. Small business is what helped to build this great country of 
ours, and loyalty is what makes all of us successful. We have always 
given back whenever asked, often times without being asked. We have 
always paid taxes. We have always voted. We have always made 
contributions. We've always participated in the programs that General 
Motors asked us to participate in.''
  And then they go on to say that they had an attorney that was talking 
to them about the way they're being treated by the government and by 
General Motors, which is now controlled by the government--Government 
Motors now, no longer General Motors. And they say: ``We are now no 
longer to be a part of the `new General Motors.' We are no longer good 
enough, even though we were part of the faction that helped to support 
them for years.
  ``Yesterday I listened to an attorney representing auto dealers 
speak. He is the first person I have heard make any sense in this mess. 
He asked, where are your elected representatives? Where are the elected 
officials that you donated to? Where are the elected officials that you 
voted for? He further added that these people never hesitated to ask 
for your help, but where are they now? The most important question 
asked was, why are you allowing them to turn their backs on you?''
  And I would just like to say, if I were talking to my colleagues in 
the House, my friends in the Senate, or if I were talking to the 
President, I would say, it's time for us to pay attention to these 
people. Instead of putting everything under government control, instead 
of trying to bail out everything by printing money that we don't have, 
we ought to be cutting taxes like they did under Ronald Reagan.
  We cut taxes across the board when we had terrible problems back in 
the early eighties. We had 14 percent inflation, we had 12 percent 
unemployment--worse than we have right now, and when Reagan came in, 
instead of throwing money at everything what he did was said, we're 
going to give people some of their money back, we're going to cut their 
taxes. We're going to cut business taxes because if we do that, they 
will have more income and more money to spend on expanding our economy 
to buy products, to produce new products. And he did that.

                              {time}  1445

  And because of that, we had one of the longest periods of economic 
expansion in this country's history.
  You compare that to what we're seeing today where businesses are 
being driven out of business. This business has been there for 60 
years, and they're going out of business because we're trying to solve 
the problems by letting government solve everything. Sixty-one percent 
of General Motors is going to be run by the unions now, and we've spent 
$57 billion bailing these companies out when we could have done it the 
way Ronald Reagan did.
  I want to end by just saying I feel real frustration when I get these 
letters from my constituents, and I hope my colleagues are paying 
attention and the people at the White House are paying attention, 
because instead of printing more money and throwing more money and 
putting more government control in charge of everything, we ought to be 
giving the American people the right to have some of their money back 
so they can expand this economy, because government sure isn't doing 
it.
                                                     June 3, 2008.
     Congressman Dan Burton,
     Rayburn House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Burton: My husband, David Dorais, and I 
     are the owners and operators of Dorais Chevrolet in Wabash, 
     Indiana. This business was started over 60 years ago by my 
     husband's grandfather, Gus Dorais. Gus Dorais was the first 
     All American in football from Notre Dame University. He came 
     to Wabash, Indiana from Detroit. He began a Chevrolet 
     dealership operating under the philosophy of ``give back to 
     the community that has given so much to you''. This is the 
     philosophy we have strived to operate under.
       We have always been extremely loyal to General Motors and 
     to our community. Small business is what helped to build this 
     great country of ours and loyalty is what makes all of us 
     successful. We have always given back whenever asked, often 
     times without being asked. We have always paid taxes. We have 
     always voted. We have always made contributions. We have 
     always participated in the programs that General Motors asked 
     us to participate in. We have even participated in extra 
     programs that General Motors did not request, such as an 
     advertisement group. My husband served as an officer in this 
     group for years. We employ many people, who also help to keep 
     our community alive. We pay our employees a fair and honest 
     wage and we provide insurance to them. We feel we have done 
     everything that an American citizen should do. We have been 
     voted Small Business of the Year in our community, the only 
     auto dealer to receive this award.
       May 15th, 2009 we received a letter from General Motors 
     that stated they will not be renewing our contract with them. 
     Our American Dream became our American Nightmare. The 
     Automotive Task Force (none of which drive American cars) 
     handed down their decree. We are now no longer to be a part 
     of the ``New General Motors''. We are no longer ``good 
     enough'', even though we are a part of the faction that 
     helped to support them for years. Yesterday I listened to the 
     attorney representing auto dealers speak. He is the first 
     person I have heard make any sense in this mess. He asked, 
     where are your elected representatives? Where are the elected 
     officials that you donated to? Where are the elected 
     officials that you voted for? He further added that these 
     people never hesitated to ask for your help, but where are 
     they now. The most important question asked was, ``Why are 
     you allowing them to turn their backs on you?
       These are the people that wanted your support to put them 
     in their present position. It is a position that is to help 
     the people. Where are they and why are you not furious that 
     they are turning their backs on you''. It did give me reason 
     to think. Politicians run on the premise of helping the 
     people. Yet, when you are actually needed, where are you? Has 
     a political office simply become a place to sit and receive a 
     check? Are campaign promises simply empty words used to 
     become elected. During the last election it was all about the 
     Middle Class, all about small business, it was all about 
     keeping business alive, it was all about keeping people 
     employed. What happened? Was it all simply political 
     rhetoric, business as usual.
       As previously stated, we are a small business. We do 
     believe in helping and giving back. We believe in helping and 
     supporting those around us. We have even managed to keep 
     doing this in these difficult economic times. We are a small 
     business in Wabash, Indiana that does give back in every way 
     possible. We are a small business in which the owners do not 
     take huge paychecks in order to give back to a community that 
     we are loyal to. We received the Small Business Award because 
     of our loyalty. It is our hope that this is not a word that 
     has been forgotten in government. No, we are not as 
     profitable as we once were. Yet these are difficult times and 
     they will pass. Given the opportunity, we will again be 
     profitable--even more profitable than in the past. It is our 
     hope that you will look at this Small Business of the Year in 
     Wabash, Indiana. Look at the contributions we make to the 
     people who live here. It is our hope that you have not turned 
     your back on us.
           Sincerely,
     David and Kay Dorais.
                                  ____

                                                     May 27, 2009.
     Representative Dan Burton,
     Rayburn House Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Burton. It was great to hear you and speak 
     with you at Huntington's Lincoln Day Dinner, but we want to 
     stress the things we said then. We do have confidence in you.
       We are appalled by what is happening in Washington. Now in 
     our eighties, we have seen many administrations. None has 
     been as frightening as this one. In less than six months 
     President Obama and his team have drawn the U.S. Government 
     deep into private business. The government's business is 
     governing not business.
       There is no doubt the President and his team have taken us 
     far on the road to socialism, so far that we fear there may 
     be no return. Their spending is out of this world and it's 
     not what will save the economy. In the long run bailouts 
     don't work.
       The health care issue, the credit card issue, the card 
     check issue and more are taking us far from free enterprise, 
     and are causing many citizens to give up self-reliance and 
     responsibility in favor of relying on the

[[Page H8000]]

     government. There is little incentive for talented people to 
     innovate, work hard and create business. What a terrible 
     lesson!!
       We pray you fight this movement!!
       At the same time, we pray you will support keeping the 
     United States safe in every way you can.
           Sincerely,
     Emmaline P. Henn.

                          ____________________