[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6436]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   PUTTING OUR FISCAL HOUSE IN ORDER

  (Mr. WALBERG asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. WALBERG. Madam Speaker, a recent analysis by the Mackinac Center 
for Public Policy compared Michigan's per capita income to the national 
average and revealed the Great Lakes State reached its lowest level in 
75 years. At the end of 2006, Michigan had the second highest 
unemployment rate in the Nation and since January of 2001, Michigan has 
lost over 205,000 jobs.
  Certainly many of Michigan's problems have been caused by State 
policies, but the men and women of my district continue to stress to me 
they want Congress to put our fiscal house in order on a Federal level.
  Right now, taxpayers in south central Michigan are making tough 
choices every day to ensure their family budgets are balanced. They do 
it by cutting spending and having fiscal discipline. It's time we make 
these same hard choices on a Federal level. Congress needs to pass a 
balanced budget bill without raising taxes. We need to make tax relief 
permanent for hardworking American families and reform unsustainable 
entitlements.
  By putting our fiscal house in order, this Congress can go a long way 
in restoring the trust of the American people and build a better, 
brighter future for our country.

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