[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 14961]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM

  (Mr. ROGAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROGAN. Mr. Speaker, Dr. Joseph Jacobs wrote an exceptional book 
about ``compassionate conservatism,'' a slogan today adopted by the 
distinguished governor of Texas, George W. Bush. The concept reminds me 
that many liberals go through their lives thinking that they are 
compassionate because of their willingness to spend other people's 
money.
  So often there is absolutely no recognition from liberals that 
conservatives share many of the same ultimate goals. But we certainly 
disagree over the best ways in which to achieve them. That is why we 
hear day after day on the House floor the motives of conservatives 
attacked. In my view, the liberal version of compassion has done more 
harm and has had more devastating consequences on the less fortunate 
than the most fiscally conservative lawmaker ever could have. Theirs is 
the philosophy of dependence on government. We conservatives share the 
philosophy of celebrating individual self-reliance. Compassion is not a 
product of policy. It is a product of the human heart. There is no 
compassion in destroying the motivation of the less fortunate to 
achieve, to grow and to prosper.

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