[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6461]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE APRIL 15 TAX DEADLINE

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, it is that time of the year again, April 
14th, the night before April 15th, the tax deadline. It is a 
bittersweet day for a politician. On the one hand, we are forced to 
confront the painful truth about how much the Federal Government takes 
from its productive citizens in the way of taxes. On the other hand, it 
is a tragic reality. It serves as an useful reminder to Republicans for 
what they stand for as a party.
  To Republicans, taxes are a freedom issue. We believe that people 
should be entitled to the fruits of their labor. Slavery was a great 
evil because slaves were not entitled to the fruits of their labor. 
That was wrong.
  The question for Republicans is one ultimately of choice: Who decides 
how to spend the money that Americans earn, those Americans or the 
government? We believe that people should have more power and more 
control over their lives, and the government should have less. That is 
the significance of April 15 to me.




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