[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11381]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              CUT, CAP, AND BALANCE WASHINGTON'S CHECKBOOK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Nevada (Mr. Heck) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HECK. Mr. Speaker, I am here to share a short letter I received 
from one of my constituents who used to own a small business. His name 
is Steve, and his letter eloquently addresses the issue we are 
discussing today.
  Steve wrote: ``I know it is a very contentious time in Washington. 
The 2008 election led me to sell my business because I saw an assault 
on the small business owner. My peers continue to ask me how I 
anticipated our current situation.
  ``First, it was the mandated health insurance, then more government 
regulation and regulators, and now it is the assault on my earnings 
that I worked hard for over the last 40 years.
  ``The President and his Progressive friends will not be satisfied 
until they kill what reward for risk incentive is left.
  ``Equal wealth for everyone is not guaranteed in our Constitution.
  ``The reward for risk is what made this country what it is today.
  ``I ask that you hold the line even if it means losing the next 
election.''
  I came to Congress to get Nevada's economy back on track, and the 
only way to do that is by listening to our job creators--by listening 
to their concerns and then addressing those very concerns. When I talk 
with Nevada's small business owners, they feel the same way Steve does. 
They say the reason they're not creating jobs is due to too many 
harmful regulations, too many taxes and too much government spending.
  We are in a fiscal crisis, and it is killing our job creators' very 
ability to create jobs. In all of my conversations with Nevada business 
owners, the one thing--the one thing--I've never heard them say is, 
``Do you know what would help me create more jobs? A tax increase.''
  I urge Nevadans and my colleagues not to listen to the President's 
false choice--the idea that we can fix government's fiscal problems by 
merely closing loopholes and reining in subsidies. Now, let me be 
clear. I support closing loopholes and subsidies because we need to 
level the playing field, but that won't by itself solve the problem, 
because even if we close the loopholes and rein in the subsidies, the 
government will still have a spending problem, and it will only be a 
matter of time before another tax increase is proposed.
  Past all of the talking points and hyperbole, the President's real 
choice is about the tax burden families and businesses face in Nevada 
and across the country. Will that burden be lower or higher? I am 
fighting to make sure it's lower. Our job creators, like Steve, realize 
this. Why doesn't Congress? Forty-nine of 50 States balance their 
budgets. Why doesn't Congress? Nevada families live within their means. 
Why doesn't Congress?
  Just because there are checks in the checkbook doesn't mean there is 
money in the checking account. The Cut, Cap, and Balance proposal is a 
thoughtful solution to solving the government's spending problem that 
protects the promise of Social Security and Medicare for seniors and 
veterans' benefits to our brave men and women who have fought to 
protect our freedoms. It will cut $5.8 trillion over the next decade 
and give our job creators confidence that we are serious about getting 
this economy back on track.
  I urge my colleagues to support the Cut, Cap, and Balance bill and 
show that we are serious about balancing Washington's checkbook.

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