[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13079]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               A NATION'S TAX POLICY REFLECTS ITS VALUES

  (Mr. HEFLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HEFLEY. Mr. Speaker, one reason why taxes are such an important 
issue is because a Nation's tax policy reflects its values. A system of 
low taxes rewards hard work, rewards educational achievement, rewards 
prudence, rewards long-term planning, rewards risk-taking, rewards 
entrepreneurship, rewards diligence, and most of all, is an endorsement 
of freedom, the idea that a person is truly entitled to the fruits of 
his labor.
  A system of high taxation punishes these very same virtues. It 
discourages work, discourages job creation, and reduces freedom. It 
buys into the idea that the more productive a person is, the more he 
should be punished, and the less entitled he is to those fruits. It is 
based on the belief that government knows best.
  This in my view is a bizarre value system. I find the liberal value 
system to be contrary to freedom, contrary to common sense, and the 
exact opposite of the values that made America great.

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