[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 19183]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          THE TAX RELIEF BILL

  (Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, Americans do not want, need, 
or deserve the highest taxes since World War II. For too long, our tax 
system has punished the very virtues Americans live by: hard work, 
marriage, savings, entrepreneurship, and freedom.
  Look what happens when we play by the rules. If we get married, the 
government punishes us with taxes. If we save and invest for our 
family's future, we pay taxes on the earnings. If we work hard to earn 
more, we end up paying what is called an alternative minimum tax, and 
lose all our family tax credits.
  Finally, if we build a successful business and try to leave it to our 
kids, they will probably have to sell it in order to pay taxes when we 
die.
  We want to end the assault on American values of family, savings, 
hard work, entrepreneurship, and freedom. It is our money, and we 
deserve to get it back. Americans do not want or need the President to 
spend our money on big government.

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