May 10, 1995 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE H 4791

Today’s Tax Code is artificially and

unnecessarily suppressing living standards. The first problem in today’s code

is the fact we have double taxed business earnings, which places a strong

bias against savings and investment.

This makes saving and investing much

less attractive relative to consumption.

Capital, as we know, is the lifeblood

of the economy. Without capital, workers cannot enhance their productivity

and their wages stagnate. Today’s double, even triple taxation of income discourages saving, reduces the pool of

capital available to entrepreneurs and

workers, slows productivity and wage

growth.

A second problem with today’s tax

code is its high marginal rates.

The third problem with today’s tax

code is its complexity and its hundreds

of sections, thousands of pages of regulations. The rates are high, loopholes

abound, and noncompliance is rife because taxpayers feel that the code is

written for well-organized special interests and not for them.

Mr. Speaker, perhaps most disturbing, the complexity and unfairness of

the code lead our citizens to take an

excessively jaded and cynical view of

their government.

Fourth, I believe the overall level of

taxes, Mr. Speaker, is too high, especially for families with children. The

average family now pays more in taxes

than it spends on food, clothing and

shelter combined.

There are two major flat tax proposals, Mr. Speaker, one in the House and

one in the Senate. The one in the

House is Congressman DICK ARMEY’s.

Under his plan, all income would be

taxed once at 17 percent. There would

be no credits or deductions. Under his

flat tax, there would be no taxes paid

by single individuals earning $13,100 or

less and couples earning $26,200 or less.

A corporation would simply subtract

expenses from revenues and pay 17 percent on the remainder.

Senator ARLEN SPECTER has also offered a flat tax proposal. His is a 20-

percent tax rate but has a couple of deductions. It would have a home mortgage deduction retained for homes up

to $100,000, and $2,500 in charitable deductions, and maintains payroll withholding.

America’s current tax is a patchwork

quilt. It should be replaced. The need

for tax simplification is self-evident.

Americans now spend approximately

5.4 billion hours each year just filling

out the tax forms, Mr. Speaker. In 1994,

businesses spent approximately $127

billion in compliance with the Federal

tax laws, and individuals another $65

billion.

Both proposals meet the test, I believe, of fairness, simplicity, and economic neutrality. Americans would fill

out merely a small postcard and answer a few easy questions, instead of

toiling over reams of papers and instructions. These changes will get the

IRS and the government off the backs

of individual and corporate taxpayers,

and will allow all of us to redirect our

energies to more productive pursuits.

I hope that our fellow colleagues in

the House, Mr. Speaker, will look over

these proposals in the coming months,

and hope they will find favor with

them.

ADDRESSING JAPANESE TRADE

fDEFICIT

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. KAPTUR] is recognized for 5 minutes.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I come to

the well this evening to discuss a very

important trade dispute that is going

on between the United States and

Japan, a negotiation that has now

dragged on through three different

Presidents relating to the major portion of the trade deficit between the

United States and Japan, the automotive industry and the automotive

parts industry.

I rise this evening to let the American people know that these negotiations have hit an impasse and today we

met with the ambassador of the United

States, our Trade Ambassador, Mr.

Kantor, and were informed that the administration intends to, for the first

time, the first administration in over a

decade, intends to impose trade sanctions on the Nation of Japan in order

to help pry open Japan’s market not

just to goods from the United States

but hopefully as a result of our success

there if it can occur to the goods of

other nations as well.

I think that the Clinton administration should be commended for bringing

us to this point. We rise this evening

also to say to them, hang tough. As

they do this and try to pry open that

market which if it were open and we

actually had trade equity with Japan

in automotive, we literally could construct in this country an additional 100

plants each employing over 5,000 people. That is how bad the differential

has become between our two nations.

The other point I would like to raise

before calling on my very capable colleague from the State of Ohio, Mr.

BROWN, is to say that we hope that as

these sanctions are imposed that the

major auto manufacturers of this country and the major automotive parts

manufacturers of this Nation will not

raise prices but will use the power that

the people of the United States are giving them through these negotiations to

continue to gain market share in this

country and to begin to gain additional

market share in Japan.

We wish the Clinton administration

well as the President returns from Russia. We want him to be successful not

just in the sanctions but hopefully in

the case that will be placed before the

World Trade Organization in Geneva.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman

from Ohio [Mr. BROWN].

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. I appreciate the

work the gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms.

KAPTUR] has done in fighting for fair

trade. All of us appreciate the courage

and the commitment that President

Clinton and Trade Representative

Kantor have shown in standing tough

with Japanese. When we have a $25 billion trade deficit with the Japanese on

auto-related, automobiles and auto

parts, $25 billion, that costs us somewhere in the vicinity of, it is literally

hundreds of thousands of good-paying

industrial jobs in this country that

have gone to Japan because their trade

doors are closed to American goods.

This standing tough that the President

and Trade Representatives Kantor are

doing right now will mean as they pry

open, as it pries open the Japanese

market, it will mean more jobs for

Ohio, it will mean more jobs all over

this country, good-paying industrial

jobs that create middle-class families,

that give people the opportunity to

send their children to school, to send

their children to college, to provide for

their retirement, to have good-paying

jobs and nice homes in nice neighborhoods and all that the auto industry

can do if in fact the President and

Trade Representative Kantor hang

tough like you said. I think they will.

All of us here in a bipartisan way

would encourage them to do that.

I also want to echo what the gentlewoman from Ohio [Ms. KAPTUR] said, it

is important that as this happens, as

we stands up to the Japanese this time

finally, and a President is actually

doing that as President Clinton is, that

auto companies do not raise prices,

that auto companies expand their market share. That is what will create jobs

in Lorain, OH; in Avon Lake, OH; in

Twinsburg, OH, and all over the United

States, good-paying industrial jobs to

create a stronger better-paid middle

class.

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman

from Ohio for his leadership in this effort and with the dollar situation

around the world, the value of the dollar versus the yen, there is certainly no

reason for our companies to raise

prices here or in other places but rather to go after market share, especially

when the people of the United States

are standing together through their

elected representatives here in Washington and fighting for this key

lodestar American industry, the automotive industry.

When you think about it, a third of

the market in this country, both automotive and automotive parts, is comprised of foreign product that we import into the United States not just

from Japan but from everywhere. It is

interesting to look at Japan. Only 4

percent of their market, the second

largest industrial power in the world,

comes from anyplace else, 4 percent of

their market versus one-third of ours.

Mr. BROWN of Ohio. If the gentlewoman would yield, one of the things

that Ambassador Kantor told us today

at a meeting with a group of about a

dozen Members is that the Japanese

have found a way with fixing cars with
H 4792 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—HOUSE May 10, 1995

auto repairs of shutting out American

auto parts so that if you are an auto

consumer in Japan, you go to get your

car fixed and you have got to use Japanese auto parts.

Ms. KAPTUR. We ask the President,

hang tough with Japan.

LEGISLATION HONORING HARRY

fKIZIRIAN

The Speaker pro tempore. Under a

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Rhode Island [Mr. REED]

is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, it is my

pleasure to introduce legislation today,

along with my colleague from Rhode

Island, Mr. KENNEDY, to designate the

main U.S. Post Office in Providence,

RI, as the ‘‘Harry Kizirian Post Office.’’

Harry Kizirian is a truly remarkable

individual. The most decorated living

veteran in Rhode Island, Harry displayed qualities of leadership and courage at a very young age. At the age of

15, Harry had to go to work to support

his widowed mother, but he continued

to maintain his excellent academic

record at Mt. Pleasant High School in

Providence. Upon graduation, Harry

enlisted in the United States Marine

Corps and was sent to Okinawa.

On Okinawa, Harry fought with tenacity and courage, while engaged continuously in fierce combat. Harry was

severely wounded while leading an infantry assault. For his extraordinary

heroism, Harry was awarded the Navy

Cross, the Bronze Star with V Device

for Valor, the Purple Heart with a Gold

Star, and the Rhode Island Cross.

Upon Harry’s return, he immediately

went to work at the main post office in

Providence where he had worked during high school. At work, Harry displayed the same commitment and

teamwork he showed on the frontlines

at Okinawa, and was eventually appointed as the Postmaster. He was confirmed by the United States Senate in

1961, and held the position of Postmaster for 25 years.

Throughout his career with the Postal Service, Harry also devoted much of

his time to the community, serving on

numerous boards and committees.

Harry served on the board of directors

for Butler Hospital, Big Brothers of RI,

RI Blue Cross, the RI Heart and Lung

Associations, and numerous others.

One of Harry’s greatest accomplishments was raising a wonderful family.

He and his wife, Hazel, raised five children and have three grandchildren.

Harry has served his country in every

capacity: in the military, as a civil

servant, as a devoted husband and father, and as a loyal American. Harry

Kizirian is a source of inspiration for

the young and old, and he is a particularly cherished member of Rhode Island’s proud and vibrant Armenian

community.

This bill would commemorate his

generosity and valor for future generations, and it would pay tribute to a remarkable gentleman who has given so

much to his nation, his community,

and his family. I urge my colleagues to

join me in honoring Harry Kizirian by

supporting this bill.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

CALLING FOR AN APOLOGY

fprevious order of the House, the gentleman from West Virginia [Mr. RAHALL] is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in a special order, I expressed my

total disbelief that, at an event convened at taxpayer’s expense, a Member

of this House would publicly charge

that a Member of the U.S. Senate

should be tarred and feathered and run

out of the country.

Was this a joke, Mr. Speaker? From

press accounts, what we do know is

that it was a reaction to a constituent’s call for the murder of a Member

of the other body, and that the murderer be given a medal.

The Member from Washington State

in question with whom I have spoken,

did not object to the murder of a U.S.

Senator. The member did not attempt

to argue at all, instead Mr. Speaker, he

fueled the flames of violence against

members of the people’s house, against

the representatives elected by the

American people.

Let me read from a definition of ‘‘tar

and feathers’’:

Pouring molten tar over the body and covering it with feathers was an official punishment in England as early as the 12th century. It was never legal in the United States,

but was always a mob—demonstration. The

practice finally vanished in the late 19th

Century.

But now, Mr. Speaker, a Member of

the House wants to resurrect the practice—to drag the American people, not

toward the next millennium, but back

to the last.

Is this the course the new majorities

in the Congress have set? Is this a new

contract of tar and feathering, of drawing and quartering, of star chambers

and chambers of torture for the American people?

Are there no limits on inciting violence? Has America not seen enough

hate in the last few weeks? Will this

hate make America stronger?

Mr. Speaker, When the people’s representatives remain silent in the face

of hate speech, they endorse it. When

the people’s representatives suggest

violent acts against their colleagues,

they tear at the very fabric that binds

us as a nation. Should we not, as representatives of the people, seek a higher civility in this body? Should we not

as leaders of this country, seek to uplift this nation, rather than tear it

down?

I ask for this Member’s public apology Mr. Speaker. I ask that he apologize to the Member of the other body—

that he apologize to the American people—and that he apologize to this institution of which he is a Member.

NORWOOD

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr.

). Under a previous order of

f

the House, the gentleman from New

Jersey [Mr. MENENDEZ] is recognized

for 5 minutes.

[Mr. MENENDEZ addressed the

House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extension of Remarks.]

b 2230

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a

previous order of the House, the gentleman from Alabama [Mr. HILLIARD] is

recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. HILLIARD. Mr. Speaker, today, I

rise to discuss what occurred in my

congressional district 30 years ago this

week. During that time in Selma, AL,

a young black man named Jimmy Lee

Jackson was murdered because he

dared to stand up against the multitudes of racial injustices, from whiteonly water fountains to the Statesrights stand which would not allow

blacks to vote.

Fortunately, Jimmy Lee Jackson’s

murder in 1965 was not in vain. It

prompted the historic 54 mile Selma to

Montgomery voting rights march,

which was the catalyst for the 1965

Voting Rights Act. This act secured

the rights of all Americans to participate, without harassment, in the political system.

Today, we again have challenges before us

which threaten the basic rights of many Americans. The so-called Republican Contract With

America threatens to take away many rights

which we, as Americans, hold dear.

I am speaking of the right to have proper

medical care, the right to proper nutrition, the

right to a good education, and the right to be

treated equally and fairly under the law.

Mr. Speaker, I hope and pray that it does

not take a murder like Jimmy Lee Jackson’s,

which occurred over 30 years ago in Selma, to

wake up America to action.

DEFENDING DEMOCRACY AGAINST

TERRORISM

fThe SPEAKER pro tempore. Under

the Speaker’s announced policy of January 4, 1995, the gentleman from New

York [Mr. NADLER] is recognized for 45

minutes as the designee of the minority leader.

Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise

today in an effort to shed light on a

problem on nearly everyone’s mind

these days—the problem of terrorism—

the problem of a relatively small number of violent lawbreakers who have set

out to undermine our democratic way

of life and seek either to blackmail the

government through violence or the

threat of violence to comply with their

demands, or to overthrow the government entirely.

What these misguided zealots are attempting to do is to create a climate of

fear so great that Americans can’t even

drop off their children at day care in

the morning without having to worry if

it will be the last time they will ever

see them. This climate of violence and

fear is sometimes fostered by people

who organize or join so-called militias