Date: 1997-03-19
Speaker: BOB SCHAFFER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Colorado

Mr. Speaker. I cannot think of a better topic to discuss tonight. and I commend you on your leadership for bringing this topic forward and giving us this opportunity. because this whole topic of focusing on families and the impact that legislation that we pass here in Washington and what that means for families across the country is precisely the reason I came here in the first place. I believe very firmly that we should be motivated in every piece of legislation that we pass. from the comptime bill that we dealt with today to balancing the budget and our assessment of tax policy and how we lead the country should be driven from the perspective of how it impacts families. Clearly- one of the pillars that many of us hold in common and bringing us here tonight is our belief that families represent the most central and essential social unit in American life. I know that is true in Colorado and in your home State as well. And for all of us here. having families regarded as a central social unit. essential in everything that we believe to be the focus of American life includes welfare. for example. When we talk about welfare reform. when we saw this Congress. the 104th Congress pass welfare reform back to the States. once again we saw that maintaining the integrity of families was at the center of that effort. What we are seeing right now in all 50 States is they deal with reforming welfare systems on a State by State basis. just as this Congress envisioned. We are seeing programs that encourage selfsufficiency. that encourage work. that reward honest hard work rather than dependency. that carry on a legacy that Americans have traditionally enjoyed. one that suggests that young children should have hope and should be able to aspire to have wonderful jobs. to be selfsufficient aid to be able to take care of themselves. When we look at health care. the clearest difference that I have discovered. as a new Member and a freshman. is the difference of opinion that we see here between those who believe on occasion that it is in the end the Governments responsibility to provide for the health care of individuals versus our vision that we wish to empower families to provide health care for their children and ultimately be responsible for the health of their kids. A clear difference. a clear distinction. But I hope that we are successful in continuing to keep our family focus at the center of the health care debate. too. With respect to wages. it is we who believe that we need to find whatever strategy we can come up with here in Congress to increase the family wages and the earning power of American families. rather than have them continually look for more and more handout from their Government. So increasing wages. increasing the ability to seek opportunity is certainly essential to us. And all of our efforts that deal with trying to strengthen our economy. be they our efforts to try to reduce capital gains tax or estate taxes that we discussed 2 weeks ago. all designed to try to increase the economic power that we enjoy as Americans and in America that promote and strengthen American families. Public education is another topic that I know we are going to be dealing with quite a bit. Those of us here really believe that it is ultimately the responsibility of parents to teach their children. We bear the responsibility as parents. and we in fact employ public school districts and public school teachers to assist us in that job. That is again a focus that we need to maintain and be very forceful about here on the floor in every single bill that we pass. Finally the institution of marriage. something that is ridiculed on occasion. something that comes under attack right here in this body and throughout the country. It is something that I know you share the same intent that I do. to restore the integrity of the institution of marriage. to realize that a family. two parents. a child with two parents has a tremendously greater chance of succeeding and surviving in American society than those who are struggling with families that are operating and trying to make a go of it singlehandedly. It is very difficult. We want to do everything we can to support them. I want to share something with you and for the rest here. this is a picture of my daughter. If you have a chance to come to my office. you can take a look at it a little closer. My daughter Sarah is 6 months old. 6 months old. Sarah. on the day of her birth. owed $19.000 to the Federal Government. That was her obligation to the Federal debt. That was her obligation to pay for things that. frankly. this Congress did not have the courage to pay for in years past. They did not think she would mind. Well. she probably is going to be furious when she learns to discover this on her own and understand what that means. That is what she owed on the day of her birth. Over the course of her working life. the interest on that debt will amount to almost $200.000. It is quite a burden we have saddled this child with. I know I keep this picture with me. I refer to it often and look at this little girl because this happens to be my girl. but it could be anybodys child. It could be yours. It could be any child in America. They have no reason to grow up in a world where they are saddled with that kind of debt. with that kind of a burden that has been placed upon them. I think we owe it to Sarah. We owe it to every child in America that hope and opportunity is something that will be closer andcloser and a chance to achieve that and within their grasp. That is what I am committed to. I know you are committed to that. too. and the people in your fine State and the rest that are here today. I just want to pledge to you and to all here assembled and all those who are watching this debate today and observing that not a day will go by that this U.S. Congress is in session and convened that I will not be fighting for everybodys American family. keeping little girls like Sarah foremost in my mind in how we conduct our business and keeping my family and your family and every American family first and foremost in our daily deliberations.