[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 21268]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




REPUBLICAN PLAN DOWNSIZES THE POWER OF GOVERNMENT AND UPSIZES THE POWER 
                               OF PEOPLE

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, over the August recess I held nearly 20 
town hall meetings across the great State of Nevada talking with 
constituents about the Republican tax plan and how it was going to help 
them and their families.
  Now this legislation is based on a very simple idea, the idea that 
once Government pays its bills and has money left over, it should be 
returned to those who paid: the taxpayer. Most taxpayers know if their 
money is left in Washington, politicians will spend it every time.
  Mr. Speaker, the average family in Nevada worked until May 14 this 
year just to pay their tax bill. Simply put: Nevadans spent roughly the 
first 4 months of each year working for the Federal Government.
  We are at a crossroads in our country's history. We balanced the 
budget, reformed welfare, cut wasteful spending, and created a surplus 
revenue in Washington, D.C. But a windfall for Washington is not right. 
Working families should not be working just for Washington, but 
Washington should be working for taxpayers, and cutting taxes is the 
best way to tip the scales back to our constituents, the hard-working 
people.
  After all, Mr. Speaker, this debate is about downsizing the power of 
Government and upscaling the power of the people.

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