[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 16890-16891]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                         REPUBLICAN BEST AGENDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Reynolds). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, the Republican Conference continues to 
work on the BEST agenda: B standing for building a strong military; E 
for excellence in education; S for saving Social Security and Medicare; 
and T for lowering taxes.
  We worked very hard on the military issues this year and we have a 
strong military. We will be passing this week the military 
appropriations bills that fund readiness, modernization and quality of 
life for our troops, including a pay raise.
  On education, we have passed the Educational Flexibility Act that 
takes power away from command-and-control Washington bureaucrats and 
puts it back to the teacher, puts dollars to the teachers in the 
classroom and lets teachers realize that it might be a little bit 
different teaching Johnny how to read in Georgia than it is in Maine or 
than it is in California. It might be a little bit different in 
Savannah, Georgia, than it is in Statesboro, Georgia, or Brunswick, 
Georgia, and it certainly is different there than it is in New York 
City. This Congress has recognized that difference and said, ``You know 
what, these teachers are good, they're competent, they're capable, they 
don't need busybody Washington bureaucrats telling them how to teach 
their classroom.''
  On Social Security, the President of the United States stood where 
you are, Mr. Speaker, stood in January and said, ``Let's save 62 
percent of the Social Security surplus and use it for Social 
Security.'' Mr. President, my grandmother wants 100 percent of her 
Social Security surplus and that because of the Republican Congress is 
what is going to happen and we are going to put that money, Grandma, 
for you in a lockbox, so that the President and his bureaucrat cronies 
in Washington cannot spend it on bridges and roads and other things 
like wars in Kosovo. We are going to save that for your own pension.
  And on taxes. I want to talk to you about taxes. Mr. Speaker, there 
is one thing that just drives me crazy about these people in 
Washington. They always talk about this money as if it is their money. 
A couple of weeks ago, I was taking my daughters Betsy and Ann to Kmart 
because we had to do what lots of middle-class Americans do, we had to 
make the Kmart shopping run. We bought a bath mat, we bought an ice 
chest and we bought detergents and we bought a sleeping bag and we 
bought a new garden hoe. On the way out the door we noticed flip-flops 
were $2.50 each so we bought a pair of $2.50 flip-flops. The bill came 
to $32, Mr. Speaker, and I had two 20's in my pocket, I gave it to the 
cashier and said, ``Here's $40.'' Now, I overpaid $8. Did the cashier 
say, ``Okay, now I'm going to throw in some magazines and some bubble 
gums and a couple of more pairs of flip-flops until we take all your 
money''? No, that is not what happens. They say, you have overpaid for 
this merchandise, so here is your money back. This is your $8. Put it 
in your pocket and spend it at another store, save it, do anything you 
want.
  But in Washington, these people say, ``No, no, that's my money.'' 
That is what has happened. We have overpaid

[[Page 16891]]

for government, our hard-working 60- and 70-hour-a-week workers have 
overpaid for their government and these people in Washington have the 
audacity to say it is their money.
  And so tomorrow we are going to have a big debate on tax reduction 
and you are going to hear over and over again that Washington cannot 
afford these tax cuts. It is the same rhetoric they said over and over 
again during Ronald Reagan when he passed one of the largest tax cuts 
in the history of this town. Eighteen million new jobs were created 
because people had more money to spend on goods and services, and so 
the economy thrived, interest rates went down, and this is a 
statistical fact. I do not know why people here are trying to mislead 
the American public.
  Something else happened. Now, at the time we were involved in a Cold 
War and this Congress, where spending originates, Mr. Speaker, did run 
up the deficit, and Republicans are partially to blame on that, even 
though it was a Democrat House. I would say Republicans certainly, Mr. 
Reagan signed the bill, so I want to share the blame, but I am not 
going to attribute it to one sector of government. But the fact is that 
had nothing to do with the tax cut. That had to do with the Cold War 
and escalation of military spending to defeat the Soviet Union which is 
what happened and it was done without losing lives unlike previous 
wars.
  But now we are going to also hear about how great the fiscal 
responsibility was of the Democrats during the Clinton tax increase in 
1993 which was the largest tax increase in the history of the country. 
Liberals in Washington are going to tell you that is why this economy 
is strong today. I will ask you this question, my liberal friends. Why 
do we not increase taxes again? Why do we not have more government 
stimulus programs if it was so good? We all know the answer. The 
economy thrived despite the Clinton tax increase, not because of it.
  What we will be doing tomorrow is returning to the American public 
their overpayment, and that is why it is the right thing to do. I 
strongly urge my colleagues to support the tax reductions to the 
American working class tomorrow.

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