[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11567]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, recently I heard from Jacqueline, a 
small business owner in southeast Texas, and here's what she said:

       Business owners who want to succeed put their heart and 
     soul into their business. They are the ones who get there at 
     the crack of dawn and leave after everyone else is long 
     settled in for the night. I've been a small business owner, 
     and I know a great many others like me, and nobody did 
     anything for us, we did it for ourselves, and the only thing 
     that the government did for us was tax us.

  Apparently, this President disagrees with Jacqueline's statement. 
According to the administration: ``If you've got a business, you didn't 
build that. Somebody else made that happen.'' So the President is 
inferring, I suspect, that government should get the credit for the 
success of entrepreneurs. He is wrong, Madam Speaker.
  People are the reason for American success--not government. Americans 
have the vision, creativity, and audacity to pursue a dream--not the 
government. Americans risk their life savings, not knowing what profit 
they will get back in return for their labor. Government doesn't risk 
anything. Americans spend long days, sleepless nights, and working on 
weekends away from their family in order to keep their company afloat 
and pay their employees. Americans battle through discouragement and 
criticism in the hope for better days ahead. It is Americans who give 
up their home in order to pay for a store. And it's Americans who pay 
all those taxes and expensive government regulations that they're 
forced to pay.
  Government isn't there when a decision is made to get a business 
started, to take a leap of faith, make a hire, sell first goods, or 
tally bills. People pursue their own American Dream without government 
holding their hand.
  Those believers in Big Government say that Americans can only be 
successful if government controls their lives. Madam Speaker, 
government isn't the answer; government's the problem. America is not 
great because of government programs. It's great because of Americans, 
individuals with the spirit and desire to make their lives and this 
country better. Government doesn't assume the risk in business, 
individuals do.
  Starting a business is not easy. Business is driven by American 
ingenuity, creativity and, yes, hard work. Those who have been 
successful didn't wait around for someone else to help them with a 
government handout. The reality is that government actually makes it 
harder to do business now, not easier.
  When I ask Texas businesses what Washington can do for them, their 
answer is always the same: get out of the way. Businesses cannot afford 
to hire others and give them jobs because of the costly, unnecessary 
regulations imposed by government.

                              {time}  1020

  According to the World Bank's 2012 ``Doing Business in a More 
Transparent World'' report, the U.S. now ranks 13th in the world in 
places to start a business. We trail countries like Belarus, Macedonia, 
and Rwanda. Now, isn't that lovely?
  America should not be a place where people wait for a government 
handout check. Instead, they should get a paycheck for working.
  Individual achievement used to be celebrated in this country, but the 
administration seems to punish success. And what does the government do 
when individuals are successful? The government punishes them with 
taxes.
  According to the collectivists, business wealth was created by 
government, and so it belongs to everybody. Sounds a lot like statism 
to me, Madam Speaker, the idea that citizens should be beholden to the 
government for everything and government is worshipped as the savior of 
us all. That is not the American philosophy, I know.
  So the policy is, under the statists, tax people to death. Madam 
Speaker, you've heard that statement. If something moves, regulate it. 
If it keeps moving, tax it. And then if it stops moving, subsidize it. 
Government is doing all of the above to businesses in this country. And 
government is also overtaxing those small businesses, keeping 23 
million Americans from finding jobs.
  Madam Speaker, small businesses create most of the jobs in this 
country. You see, when a small business is successful it can expand by 
hiring people. Government doesn't create jobs; people and businesses 
do.
  So what next? Are the good days of American exceptionalism behind us? 
No. Americans are as exceptional as ever before, and it's the 
government that is our problem.
  Where I come from, we teach our kids that, in this country, no matter 
who you are or where you came from, hard work and personal 
responsibility will pay off. In the America I know, people earn their 
paycheck and don't sit around waiting for a free government check.
  Small business owner Jacqueline is correct. Individuals, American 
ingenuity, and free enterprise create success, not Washington. That is 
the American Dream, Madam Speaker. And when you see the President, tell 
him he's wrong.
  And that's just the way it is.

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