[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 2084]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  BUDGET SURPLUS BELONGS TO TAXPAYERS

  (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, the President said something recently in 
Buffalo, New York, that I think perfectly captures the attitude of our 
some of our friends on the left when it comes to tax cuts.
  In Buffalo the President spoke about what should be done with the 
projected budget surpluses over the next 15 years. He said, ``We could 
give it all back to you and hope that you spend it right, but . . ..''
  ``Hope that you spend it right?'' Excuse me, what exactly does the 
President mean when he says ``hope that you spend it right?'' Is the 
budget surplus something that belongs to the government, or does it 
belong to the people who earn the money?
  Well, it does not belong to Washington, and it does not belong to the 
politicians. It belongs to the people who sent the money to Washington 
in the first place. They are called taxpayers, and, yes, some of us 
believe that they ought to get some of it back.

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