[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3377-3378]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              THE PATH TO PROSPERITY IS A TRIP TO NOWHERE

  (Mr. TAKANO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TAKANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the so-called ``Path to 
Prosperity'' that was released today by the distinguished gentleman 
from Wisconsin (Mr. Ryan).
  As a freshman Member of Congress, I was hoping to look at the 
Republican budget with a fresh set of eyes and

[[Page 3378]]

focus on areas where both parties, Democrats and Republicans, can 
agree. Too often Congress focuses on what divides us and not what 
unites us. But looking at the gentleman from Wisconsin's proposal, all 
he's given us are vague bullet points that fail to say much.
  Mr. Ryan says he'd like to eliminate loopholes. Great. Democrats 
would love to do that, too. But how can we do so when Mr. Ryan won't 
even specify which deductions or credits he'd eliminate?
  I'd like to close the carried interest loophole and end tax breaks 
for private jets and luxury yachts, but what set of loopholes does Mr. 
Ryan want to close? It's a mystery. What tax breaks would Mr. Ryan like 
to cut? The home mortgage interest deduction? The child tax credit?
  Let me stop you right there, Mr. Ryan, because cutting those programs 
will hurt the middle class residents of my district, and I will not 
support such cuts.
  This is not a path to prosperity. For the middle class, it's a trip 
to nowhere.
  Mr. Ryan says he is a serious policymaker, but looking at this 
proposal, I'm not sure what he's serious about.

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