[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H6735]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICA NEEDS ECONOMIC RECOVERY

  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. Let me just say, before I start my 5-minute 
Special Order, Mr. Speaker, that I concur with what my colleague from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) just said. There are innumerable crimes that are being 
committed by people who are illegal aliens. And he is absolutely 
correct, we've got to secure that border, and we need to do whatever is 
necessary. The President of the United States has the responsibility to 
protect that border, and he needs to get on with it.
  States like Arizona and other States are very concerned about what is 
going on. There is a sign 80 miles north of the Mexican border in 
Arizona that says don't go south of here because it's not safe. That's 
unconscionable. The American people should not have to worry when they 
are in their own country about terrorists or criminals coming across 
the border from another country to kill them. So I would just like to 
say to Mr. Poe that I really appreciate your comments.
  Let me just say in my Special Order, there was a book called ``A Tale 
of Two Cities'' by Charles Dickens that said ``It was the best of times 
and it was the worst of times.'' I heard some of my colleagues on the 
other side saying earlier tonight that we really ought to do something 
about extending the tax cuts that are in place that were put there 
during the Bush administration. We really need to do that. If you're 
one of the 10 percent that are unemployed or one of the 15 or 16 
percent that are unemployed or unemployable right now, you realize how 
really bad it is.
  We live in the greatest country on the face of the Earth in the 
history of the Earth, so from that standpoint it is the best of times. 
But for those who are out of work and struggling right now, it is the 
worst of times. I had town meetings this past week, and I can't tell 
you how many people told me how bad it was and how soon they were going 
to lose their jobs, or their husbands or wives had lost their jobs and 
they're suffering, so what we need to do is take the steps necessary to 
bring about economic recovery.
  As I've said many times on this floor, when Ronald Reagan took office 
in the early eighties, he came in, and instead of raising taxes he cut 
taxes and we had 20 years of prosperity. We had 12 percent unemployment 
and 14 percent inflation. And what happened was he came in, and when 
they said he had to raise taxes in order to get the economy moving, he 
did just the opposite and the economy took off. That's what we ought to 
be doing today.
  If I could talk to the President--and I know I can't because I'm here 
on the floor--I would say, Mr. President, look at history. Look at John 
F. Kennedy, a great Democrat President, and look at Ronald Reagan--who 
I think was the greatest Republican President in our lifetime--and see 
what they did to bring about economic recovery, and that is, cut taxes, 
cut government spending, move the country in the right direction, even 
if it's just for a couple of years that we have the tax cuts in place. 
But right now is the wrong time to be increasing taxes or letting the 
Bush tax cuts expire.
  And I don't want to be political, but I think I have to say to my 
colleagues who may be paying attention in their offices right now, 
there will be a price to be paid in about 6 weeks for those who don't 
heed the message that is coming from the American people. They want 
economic recovery, and they understand what needs to be done. And 
they're going to hold those of us who don't listen to them accountable 
on November 2.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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