[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 18955]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF REPUBLICAN MAJORITY

  (Mr. LINDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LINDER. Mr. Speaker, 10 years ago, 25 hearty souls met for 3 
hours every week to decide whether we could change the course of 
America, led by then House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich. We said that if 
you gave us the authority and the power, we would change the way 
America works, and we did it with a specific Contract With America; 9 
million additional people voted in that election and gave us the 
opportunity to lead.
  We believed that too many people were on welfare, and they deserved 
an opportunity to get off, so we changed that. We balanced the budget 
and paid down debt. Some of that is going by the wayside now with a war 
to fund, but when we stood before the American people in 1994, we stood 
for something solid, and we can do it again.
  We want to thank the American people for giving us the opportunity. 
And, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Newt Gingrich, who would be our 
Speaker ultimately, for leading us to that majority.

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