[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6094]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          TAX DAY, APRIL 15TH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 15, 2008

  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I have long known that the war in Iraq was 
costing our Nation far too much. But after less than a week here in 
Washington, I'm sad to say, it is even worse than I thought. Today, on 
the day millions of Americans pay their Federal income taxes, it is 
disheartening to point out that the average American's total tax bill 
pays for less than one half of one second of this unnecessary war.
  At a time when hard-working, two-income families struggle to pay 
their mortgages, when gas prices force small businesses to raise prices 
on basic services and necessities, when support for college students 
continues to decline and CEO salaries rise faster than a carnival 
balloon, it is time to bring a dose of sanity to our tax laws.
  Madam Speaker, today we took an important step by passing legislation 
to deny government contracts to firms that are delinquent in tax 
payments. No longer shall we allow corporations to reap war profits 
while defrauding taxpayers by not paying their fair share.
  We also took aim at the ridiculous practice of hiring outside 
collection agencies to harass American taxpayers at a cost higher than 
the money they take in. If America truly is the land of opportunity, 
then that opportunity must extend to all members of the American 
family. We cannot be nickel-and-diming hardworking families while 
losing tens of billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse in 
questionable contracts awarded to politically-connected firms doing 
business in Iraq.
  Madam Speaker, I am new to this body, but I am not new to politics. I 
understand that the only way anything gets done in the halls of power 
is when someone stands up and insists on action. Today, on Tax Day, let 
us make a promise to work toward ending this devastating and costly 
war, providing middle-income tax relief and once and for all doing away 
with subsidies for oil companies. Only then, can Americans start to 
feel that Tax Day is something more than a shake-down of hard-working 
families.

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