[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 28262]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              WHAT SHOULD BE DONE WITH THE PEOPLE'S MONEY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOSSELLA. Mr. Speaker, there is a constant debate around here in 
Washington as to what to do with the people's money, and it seems that 
very often, too often as a matter of fact, there is a dismissal of the 
notion that the American people deserve tax relief. Right now Congress 
and the White House are negotiating the appropriations bills that 
essentially are supposed to prioritize how the American Government 
spends its money.
  Now, Congress has done a great job, I believe, in bringing forward 
and passing out bills that establish priorities, like strengthening 
national defense, and trying to stop the raid on Social Security for 
the first time in years; strengthening education and trying to empower 
parents, as opposed to just enhancing the bureaucracies and defending 
the status quo and, in essence, failing our kids. And some important 
programs, like protecting our environment and giving our military the 
money and the sources they need to defend our country. But somehow, 
when it comes to tax relief, it becomes a taboo subject.
  We constantly hear, well, the American people do not want tax cuts, 
so some claim; or we are giving a tax cut to people who do not deserve 
it. Well, I would just urge Members here to understand that there are 
millions of hard-working Americans, and I know this because where I 
come from, in Staten Island and Brooklyn, I know that there are people 
working every single day, 6, 7 days a week, sometimes the parents are 
working two or three jobs, the father is a fireman who works at night, 
the mother is a teacher who works during the day, and they are juggling 
responsibilities, who is going to watch the kids, and they just want to 
put a little money aside to buy a washing machine or to buy the kids' 
clothes for school, or to save a little money for their education or 
perhaps a great treat like going away on vacation. But somehow, when we 
have the opportunity to send some of the money back to them, there are 
those here who say, oh no, they do not deserve it.
  Well, I suggest strongly that we stand for tax relief for the 
American people. Yes, we should fund the priorities for the American 
Government and the American people; we should fund things like our 
defense and education and protecting our environment, and keeping our 
hands off Social Security and protecting and strengthening Medicare.

                              {time}  1930

  But why can we not cut taxes? For years I heard when I was not in 
Congress that, well, we are facing a deficit and we cannot afford to 
cut taxes. Now we hear, well, we are going to face a surplus and we 
cannot afford to cut taxes. Well, if we cannot do it when we have a 
deficit and we cannot do it when we have a surplus, when can we?
  I suggest that we put our faith in the American people, put our faith 
in their spirit and their ingenuity and their creativity to go out 
there and provide incentives to work hard, put a little more money in 
savings, put a little more money back in investment not only in 
themselves and their family but in their neighborhoods in this country.
  Just look at Erie County in upstate New York. A 12-year incumbent who 
ran on a platform of he was going to spend more and more of the 
people's money, as opposed to the Republican candidate who said, you 
know what, you work too hard. I am going to run primarily on one issue. 
I am going to run on a 30 percent tax cut. Well, no surprise. He won 
handily.
  I again submit to the Members of this body, and I believe I speak for 
the vast majority of Americans, is the American people deserve tax 
relief. If we truly believe in the notions of personal freedom and 
individual liberty and if we want to instill in our children a sense 
that if they work hard in this country and they go to school and do the 
right thing and work and do the right thing in their community and they 
are able to give back and invest not only in themselves but again in 
their community and their family, that they will benefit and our 
country will be richer and better for it.
  But, instead, we are constantly barraged by those who say, huh-uh, 
you do not know how to spend your money wisely, the American people.
  In fact, we hear about these bills that come through and they are 
vetoed, as another one was vetoed today by the White House, and we 
heard recently the litany of reasons why. Why? Because it does not 
spend enough money.
  Well, where is that money coming from? The cherry trees here in 
Washington only bloom once a year. They do not bloom every day with 
money. I would just hope that the people of reason and common sense 
would understand that the American people work too hard for their 
money. They deserve more of it back.

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