[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11594]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                    THE TRUE MEANING OF MEMORIAL DAY

  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, Congress has just returned from the 
Memorial Day recess, and it allowed, I think, every Member and all 
Americans to reflect upon what Memorial Day really was all about. In 
Staten Island and Brooklyn, which I represent, we had the great fortune 
of honoring our veterans, many of whom died to save us and save the 
world for freedom, and many of the things that came up in 
conversations, aside from, clearly, our support and commitment to those 
troops in harm's way right now, whether it be in Kosovo or Iraq, was to 
remind us all what it was all about. For example, those World War II 
veterans or veterans from Korea, Vietnam, essentially what they were 
fighting for was freedom, whether to bring freedom to others or to 
protect our own.
  I think what too often we forget here in Washington is that 
ultimately the strengthening of personal freedom and individual liberty 
is really what we should be all about.
  Right now, there are people back home that are paying the highest tax 
rates since World War II. That is just not right. There are people 
working two and three jobs just to put food on their table or pay for 
their child's education. That is not right.
  What is right is that we reduce the tax burden on hard-working 
American people to promote economic growth and essentially allow them 
the freedom to spend, to save and to invest their hard-earned money as 
they see fit. Because there is an American spirit out there, whether it 
is in Staten Island or Brooklyn or anywhere across this country, that 
when given the right incentives, when given the right advice and 
guidance from the Federal Government, people will go out there and work 
hard, and they will produce wonders for the American economy, and they 
will produce wonders for businesses, both small and large.
  And you know what? Congress does not have to intervene in every 
little decision-making. They do not need to look to raise taxes every 
chance they get. We should be pursuing a course of lowering the burden, 
really emphasizing limited government, truly articulating the need to 
remember what we all really should be supporting, and that is more 
freedom.
  Frankly, the more we tax, whether it be at the Federal level, the 
State level or the local level, the more freedom we take away; and if 
we are committed to sending the right signal, not just to the people 
today but to future generations, that what the American spirit is all 
about, the notion of personal responsibility, of coming to our shores 
with hope and opportunity and hard work, when you do those things, the 
Federal Government will not penalize you or take away the fruits of 
your labor, that is when we will be sending a signal that America will 
remain strong and free forever; and the sacrifices of those veterans, 
too many of whom died to preserve freedom, too many of whom died to 
bring freedom to others, we will remind them that they did not die in 
vain.

                          ____________________