[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H794-H795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              EMPOWERMENT

  (Mr. NEUGEBAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. NEUGEBAUER. Mr. Speaker, just last week, I was traveling across 
my district to ask the people in the 19th Congressional District, How 
do we move America away from this entitlement mode, which we seem to be 
moving toward, and back to an empowerment mode so we can create jobs?
  With 9.2 percent of the American people unemployed, people want to 
know what we are going to do about jobs. What they do know is that the 
government can't continue what it has been doing, which is taxing too 
much, spending too much, and borrowing too much--mortgaging the future 
of our future generations.
  I asked a number of businesspeople, Why aren't you hiring more 
people? Why aren't you expanding your plants?
  The overriding answer was, Congressman, it's too uncertain right now. 
Congress is talking about raising our taxes, imposing insurance on us, 
talking about more regulation, raising the cost of energy in this 
country. If you continue down that road, we can't create new 
businesses. In fact, in many cases, we will have to lay off people if 
we move in that direction.
  So, Mr. Speaker, what we have to do is quit doing what we have been 
doing and get back to making America the great Nation it is by 
empowering the people. That means taking less taxes and letting 
businesses do what they know how to do, which is to create jobs. Take 
away the uncertainty of the business environment in this country

[[Page H795]]

today, which is causing many businesses across the country either to 
lay off or not to hire people.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to empower America. We need to quit entitling 
America.

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