Date: 1999-10-26
Speaker: GARY MILLER (republican)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I rise in strong support of this resolution. We are talking about the people of the United States. It is their money. It is not our money. I- congratulate my .freshman colleague the gentleman from Pennsylvania for bringing this forward today. The rhetoric today is incredible. One of my colleagues said we have not done our job. the Republicans have not done our job. It reminds me of the story of the farmer who hooked a horse up to one side of a wagon and a mule up to the back pulling in the opposite. direction. The reason we do not have a budget is because our colleagues will not- do their job and vote for it. We believe -we can live within our means. Our colleagues are doing nothing to help us on this. They are laughing. That is the attitude we have from that side of the House. When we deal with a serious issue. we get laughter: As my colleagues know. actions speak louder than words. -We bring forward appropriations bills that spend within our means. and the. Democrats vote no. Why? Because they say it does nothing for Social Security. Well. it has nothing to do with Social Security. They. vote no because we will not spend more money. which means spending Social Security money. With the President actions speak louder than words. All we heard last year is: We need to save Social Security. What did he do in his budget proposal? He spent $58 billion of Social Security. this money. this year on new programs. and he said we need to save Medicare and Medicaid in 5 years. He was proposing to cut $11.9 billion out of the programs. That does not save anything. The President said: We need to save Social Security. We saved the first bill this year for the President to come forward with his reform for Social Security. and guess what that bill is doing? Doing nothing. He has not made a proposal to save Social Security. I know when I was a young man I was raised with my grandparents. We were poor. and I started a business off in the construction industry. and I had an old van that used more oil than it did gas. and I was willing to sacrifice. and I built a company. I want my kids to have that opportunity. and I even want my colleagues kids to have that opportunity. But they want to tax them to death. 20.5 percent of GDP is in taxes. they ought to be ashamed of themselves. What we are trying to do here is make a statement: "Put your actions where your words are." We have heard enough rhetoric. We have watched them vote no. We have watched� the laughter and the childishness on the floor. and that is fine. Mr. Speaker. I respect these individuals. Some are trying to do whatis right. some are trying to be political. Let us protect the American people. Let us let people keep more of their hardearned money. we do not need it.. Government has grown to be a fatted calf and a fat hog. We do not need to spend our constituents money. They earned it. they. should keep it. we are trying to make that statement. If we are going to save Social Security. let us stop spending money. If we are going to help the American people better their lives. let us stop taxing them and spending their money.