Date: 1998-05-20
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. my colleague has hit on two key themes that really separate us from our friends and opponents on a partisan level on the other side of the aisle. the Democrat Party. and those two themes are that. one. when it comes to the power and the importance of individuals. we consistently try to side on the Republican side with individuals. That is a clear distinction in how we organize ourselves as a society and how we believe political authority ought to be placed. the overall question of whether authority ought to reside in Washington. D.C.. or in every single house. in every single city. in every single community and with individuals back home. And that value we see played out on this floor every single day. whether it is tax policy. And the debate frequently is leaders of the Democrat Party have come to the floor and said that the fact of the matter is very simple that they do not support tax cuts. period. stated as emphatically as it possibly can be. And that is fine. That is a fine position to represent and to have if they happen to go in for that sort of thing and believe that. But we. on the other hand. happen to believe that taxes ought to be lower. that more authority. in this case wealth. should be in the hands of individuals that earn it. The second value that my colleague mentioned or touched on deals with families.- that we acknowledge the power and importance of families and recognize families as the most central and essential social unit in America. And we see that being played out every single day. a huge difference of opinion that we have where we believe families ought to be strong and be empowered wherever we can and that responsibility ought to reside with families. rather than. as our friends on the other side of the aisle again. the Democrats. tend to have a record that would suggest that our government does a better job of organizing our communities and our schools and our neighborhoods and so on. A huge difference of opinion. And this issue of campaign finance is no different. It is just one other issue that comes up where the differences between our values on individuals is exposed. Those who will oppose paycheck protection clearly believe that it is fine for somebody else to take cash out our paycheck and spend it on the political cause of their choice. Versus us who believe that every individual ought to voluntarily agree whether they want to participate in a political activity or not. When .it comes to families as well. I fundamentally believe that the Paycheck Protection Act is essentially a pay raise without a tax increase. It gives folks more disposable income. more wealth in their own hands. the hands of the people who earn it. They can decide whether they want to spend it on politics. or maybe they want it put toward their pension fund. or maybe they want to buy new shoes for their kids. or maybe they want to put it aside and invest in some things at home to make their lives. a little bit more comfortable and more convenient. A huge distinction in values. where we stand as a country. Again. we are going to see where this Congress stands later this week as we deal with the whole issue of the Paycheck Protection Act. Let me also state that the political stakes on this are very high. The two political parties have very divergent opinions on this. I am going to read from a report called Inside The New Congress. It is a report that is published every Friday by Inside Washington Publishers. is the name of their organization. The managing editor is John Brushnehand. He reported just a few months ago. the headline says "House Democrats may retaliate against Members who support the Paycheck Protection Act." The article goes on. it says "Some highranking Democrat law makers suggested retaliating against any party members who vote in favor of legislation placing neW limits on union political activities. say Hill sources." It says "The suggested retaliation would be to cut off Democrats from financial support from the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee this election cycle." It says "While few Democrats are thought to be in favor of the legislation known as the Paycheck Protection Act. some conservative Democrats could face trouble in November if their GOP opponents are able to attack them on the issue. say the sources." It says the issue was raised during a meeting of the House Democrat leadership held this week. and this issue was published at the end of February of this year. so this meeting was held. presumably. at the end of February "with AFL/CIO president John Sweeney. say several sources who attended the gathering. A representative from Wisconsin. among others. recommended during the meeting that Democrats who vote in favor of the legislation should not be backed by the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee. Democratic sources say they did not get much further than the talking stage on the issue during the meeting." The issue basically goes on. This is a liveordie issue for Democrat operatives here in the Congress. They have formed a very close coalition with a small number of union bosses predicated on the notion that they are going to be able to continue taking cash otit of wage earners paychecks and diverting it toward their political activities without the concept of wage earners. The Paycheck Protection Act. while I agree it may threaten the flow of cash to Democrat coffers. is still a matter of fairness that. even when we voted on this floor. a handful of courageous Democrats were willing to join with the majority of us Republicans in voting for it. We just needed a few more of them in order to put it over the top and to score a real victory for hardworking Americans that day. We are going to get a chance to do that again. The debate is not limited to Congress. The State of California has this very question on their ballot which will come up in June. The State of Nevada has put this on their ballot which will come up in November. The State of Colorado. my home State. is leading an effort. and I am chairman of that effort to try to get this issue on the ballot. The State of Oregon is moving forward. Several State legislatures are referring a similar measure to the ballots within their States. Across this country. Americans will have an opportunity to participate in a fundamental question on campaign finance reform of whether individuals will be guaranteed the right to participate in the political process on voluntary terms and have their paychecks protected from those who believe they have some kind of right. some kind of clear path of access to the hardearned wages of somebody who works hard to make ends meet.