[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 79 (Monday, May 24, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H3729-H3730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE WAR'S MAKING YOU POOR ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to address my comments not only to 
you tonight but also to the one-third of America that makes less than 
$35,000 a year. Some people call you lower middle class; some people 
call you poor. There are those among you who are retired. There are 
those among you who are working poor Americans. Some of you make the 
minimum wage. There are those among you who also are handicapped, 
people who have no ability to enter the workforce and have to rely upon 
charity in one form or another.
  In any event, there is one-third of America, one-third, that makes 
less than $35,000 a year, and my comments are addressed to you tonight. 
You are the ones who Jesse Jackson used to refer to as 
``dispossessed,'' ``the despised,'' and in our political system, the 
damned. And you are sometimes treated that way, but more commonly, you 
are treated by our political system as disregarded.
  There are over 5,000 bills that have been introduced in the House of 
Representatives since I was sworn in last year. Only a tiny fraction of 
them offer you any relief. And tonight, I want to point out to you one 
that does. It's my bill, H.R. 5353, The War's Making You Poor Act. Now, 
I could talk to you a little bit tonight about various aspects of this 
bill, but there's one aspect in particular that I want to tell you 
about; the one that that relates to you directly.
  What this bill does is, for you, it eliminates Federal income tax 
entirely. This bill makes the first $35,000

[[Page H3730]]

of every American's income tax-free, and in your case, since you make 
less than $35,000, it eliminates Federal taxation on you.
  And to illustrate that, we have this chart here, and as the chart 
does indicate, as you can see for yourself, your taxes under H.R. 5353 
are a big fat zero. Zilch. Nada. Gornish. Nothing. And I hope that that 
will become permanent.
  This is the biggest tax cut bill that you are going to see this year. 
It would have been the biggest tax cut bill if we'd introduced it last 
year. And I could tell you this bill gives us a nudge towards peace. I 
could tell you that this bill helps us to eliminate wasteful defense 
spending. I could tell you also that this bill reduces the deficit by 
$16 billion and puts us back on the track to eliminate our deficit and 
our debt. I could tell you all of that, but what I am telling you now 
is this: It eliminates taxes on you.

  Now, you may not participate very much in the political system. 
Certainly, the political system does very little for you, so I can 
understand that. You don't have the ability to contribute to candidates 
because you have no money. You don't have the ability to, in many 
cases, vote because voting takes place on Tuesdays, and you work on 
Tuesdays.
  So you have to ask yourself, what do you have to do to get this bill, 
H.R. 5353, passed? And I'm going to give you some hints. I'm going to 
tell you what you might be able to do to get this bill passed to 
eliminate taxation on you.
  Let's see. You can call the main number here at the House of 
Representatives. It's 202-224-3121, and you, as an American, can ask to 
speak to your Congressman. I suggest that you do that, and I suggest 
that you tell your Congressman that you want your Congressman to vote 
for H.R. 5353. Or, if you have an Internet connection, you can go to 
the Web site here at the House, www.house.gov. And at that Web site, 
you can find out how to get in touch with your Congressman and tell 
your Congressman that you want to support H.R. 5353 and you want him or 
her to do the same.
  And maybe somehow, in some conceivable way, if all of America--or at 
least the one-third that this bill would eliminate taxation for--got 
together and demanded justice, demanded that this yoke be tossed off 
your back and that you be free of Federal taxation, and if this bill 
passed, then you can say at that point: Free at last; Free at last; 
Thank God Almighty, I am free at last.

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