Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of the many unsung heroes of our Nation's history, CDR George Sherwood, who will soon retire from an honorable career with the United States Navy.

Commander Sherwood was designated a Naval Aviator in 1985, following graduation from the University of Kansas and completion of flight training in Pensacola, FL, and Corpus Christi, TX. He served in a number of naval air deployments over the next 12 years in California, Texas, Japan, Puerto Rico, Panama, Iceland, and Sicily. He served in a variety of leadership positions, including Plane Commander, Mission Commander, Instructor Pilot, Tactics Officer, Training Officer, and Maintenance Officer.

In 1998, Commander Sherwood reported to the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Arlington, VA. He continued his personnel role as Officer-in-Charge in Dallas, TX. And, Commander Sherwood has spent the final stage of his career as the Naval Attache with the U.S. Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan. He has received two Meritorious Service Medals, an Air Medal, three Navy Commendation Medals, four Navy Achievement Medals, and multiple campaign and unit awards.

Commander Sherwood is one of many men and women who have spent their lives in service to their Nation. They do so for love of country and out of a true sense of commitment to the principles of freedom for which America stands. They do so without fanfare and without expectation of gratitude. But, our limitless gratitude is, indeed, what they deserve.

CDR George Sherwood is not only one of those fine men and women in uniform, but also my brother. My family and I are immensely proud of him. And, we thank him for his tireless dedication to our Nation.

Madam Speaker, the 20th century was a time of unprecedented, historic gains in human rights, freedom, and democracy. But it was also a century of unprecedented oppression, carnage and bloodshed.

Millions of families were exiled, tortured and executed because of their faiths, their beliefs, and their ancestries. Countless innocents were marched to camps, slaughtered in streets, and had their blood spilled as though it were nothing more than water. This religious and ethnic genocide is a permanent stain on the history of man.

From 1915 to 1923, Armenians were expelled from their 2,500-year homeland by the Ottoman Empire. To achieve this travesty, the Ottomans murdered 1.5 million innocent adults and children, and raped and brutalized many more. Yet to this day, this act of genocide has been widely overlooked. In fact, it is officially denied by today's Turkish government. This is unacceptable.

As we pledge ourselves to fighting evil and preventing genocide in our modern world, we must keep the past alive. For if we allow ourselves to forget the unthinkable crimes of the 20th century, mankind will be condemned to bear witness to many more.

As we dedicate ourselves today to ending the cycle of genocide, it's important to realize that education is a crucial step in preventing future horror. Groups like the Armenian National Committee of America and others work hard to raise this critical awareness, and I pray that the monstrous horrors of yesterday and today are all the lesson we ever need to end the cycle of death and suffering.

I thank the gentleman from Wisconsin, who is doing a wonderful job presenting this today on the budget.

Mr. Chairman, it was about this time last year that we came to the House floor, I was a brand new freshman, and I have to say my jaw dropped when I looked at the budget proposal. Being a mom of five kids, 23 foster kids, just an average family, we know what it is to balance a budget just in our own home. And I saw the Democrats lay out their budget proposal which was the largest tax increase in American history.

And here we are, it's deja vu all over again because we see the Democrats are now having a tax increase that's even higher than last year, $683 billion. It's hard to count that high, Mr. Chairman, $683 billion in tax increases, hitting Americans at the most inauspicious time when we're in an uncertain economy, when families clearly across the Nation are paying more for health care, for education, certainly for gas, certainly for groceries.

And in Minnesota in particular, this means an average individual tax increase of $3,088.

Yes, Minnesotans, this means an average tax increase for you of $3,088. I know you have many other places where you could use $3,088.

And it's an average loss in income for people in my district, Mr. Chairman, of $1,609.

Unfortunately, it gets worse. It means over 2,665 fewer jobs for people in Minnesota, $292 million less in our local economy.

Those are real people's lives that are impacted by those figures. They aren't just numbers. They're real people's lives. And it's pain and it's suffering that this Congress does not have to deliver to normal average American taxpayers. In total, this budget increases our Federal tax burden, unbelievably, from 18 percent of GDP to over 20 percent of GDP in 2013.

Mr. Speaker, this rule finds a way to create an ethics resolution that could encourage unethical behavior. This rule could create a place where potentially artificially manufactured scandal could be given a show trial by partisan inquisitors for the purpose of creating doubt about the character of Members of this Congress, all under the color of respectability, credibility, and authority.

Mr. Speaker, it is ingenious because partisans remove themselves as the original accusers. Incredibly, after a 90-day period of show trials, the unreformed Ethics Committee in Congress will again take up the case, returning us to where we were before all this started, with no reform.

In effect, the bill creates a bureaucracy of smear and witch hunt. It institutionalizes the politics of personal destruction with a potential of creating show trials with a public expense account.

Mr. Speaker, this is a deeply ironic proposal that instead of combating corruption could reward it, and I urge all Members of this body to vigorously oppose this rule.

Madam Speaker, Minnesota has been blessed with 23,000 brave men and women who selflessly police our streets, protect our neighborhoods, and keep our families safe.

These men and women are represented by a truly phenomenal organization. The Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police defends and supports every hero who wears a badge and carries that great and high honor of being called an officer of the law.

No people, no nation, can enjoy the blessings of liberty without the rule of law. Thanks to their tireless dedication and noble sacrifices, the people of our State can live free of fear and safe from harm as they raise their families, live their lives and build their communities.

Our debt to these brave souls can never be paid. But we can start by erecting a wall to honor the inspiring heroes of our State who gave their very lives in their daily battle against every hazard and evil that threatens the peace.

We must never take for granted the sacrifice each and every officer makes, day in and day out, for the people of Minnesota. They have my deepest gratitude and unwavering support.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate more than a quarter century of work by Pheasants Forever volunteers to preserve habitat for pheasants and other wildlife.

Founded in St. Paul, Pheasants Forever has grown to 700 chapters and 110,000 members nationwide. More than 22,500 of those dedicated volunteers are Minnesotans. Pheasants Forever members have completed over 370,000 habitat projects, improving more than 5 million acres since 1982. In Minnesota, that translates into nearly 200,000 acres of preserved habitat.

The volunteers of Pheasants Forever are its lifeblood. It is a truly grassroots organization from its fundraising to its project development. Virtually all of the money raised by a chapter stays with that chapter, making Pheasants Forever one of the most efficient conservation organizations in the Nation.

These outdoor and conservation enthusiasts also spend much of their time and energy preparing the next generation of Pheasants Forever volunteers through its education programs. And, the results are outstanding, with youth membership growing nearly four- fold from 4,000 to 15,000 in just 7 years.

This weekend, hundreds to thousands of Pheasants Forever volunteers and supporters will gather for banquets in various locations in my Minnesota district. I commend these fine individuals--and their tireless leader, Howard Vincent of White Bear Lake, who has been an active part of Pheasants Forever for 20 years and president and CEO for the past 8 years--for their commitment to Minnesota's wildlife and natural beauty.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the teachers, parents, and community of the Torah Academy in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. This weekend, at its annual banquet celebration, the Torah Academy will celebrate 63 years of educational excellence and service to children from pre-school through the eighth grade.

Founded in 1945, the Torah Academy provides a well-rounded and highly regarded education in the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, as well as Judaic studies. The teachers and staff there are committed to providing a nurturing environment and to instilling in students a lifelong love of learning.

Torah Academy depends upon the dedicated service of so many fine individual volunteers and corporate citizens to ensure that it meets its mission of educational excellence. At their banquet this weekend, the community will honor two in particular: Rabbi Joshua Borenstein, the Academy's outstanding Executive Director, and King Solutions, Inc.

King, founded by Meyer Bolnick and Mike Patterson, will be honored as the Business of Distinction as ``a business built on strong values, and a role model of responsibility and commitment to the community.'' Community service is an integral part of the work that King does in the Twin Cities area.

In addition to Rabbi Borenstein, who has served the Torah Academy community for a full decade, the Academy depends on many fine staff, including Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg, Dean, and Mrs. Ginger Vance, Principal. I join the Minneapolis-area community this weekend in commending these outstanding educators and active citizens for their commitment to the core values and mission of Torah Academy.

Mr. Speaker, today we are debating a bill which addresses an issue that is near and dear to my heart: helping those with mental health disorders.

As the wife of a clinical therapist, I have seen the many challenges that people who have mental health disorders face day after day.

These are very real impairments--but through counseling and appropriate treatments, real breakthroughs can be made.

We can help those individuals who suffer, as well as their families and our overall society.

But I have serious concerns about the scope of this legislation and the impact it will have on the affordability of health insurance for all Americans.

By mandating that group health plans offer the same financial benefit structure for both mental and physical disorders, the cost of insurance will increase across the board--and with accessibility of health care services and the affordability of health care coverage so paramount a concern for families across the country.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the cost of these mandates in the private insurance market will total $3 billion annually by 2012.

This will inevitably set up a cycle of increasing costs on employers offering health insurance and thus increasing costs for employees seeking to obtain coverage.

These mandates may even have an adverse affect on access to mental health coverage at all.

My colleagues in support of the bill have stressed that it does nothing to require employers to offer coverage of mental health services--it only mandates what this coverage must include on those who choose to offer mental health coverage.

But it is not hard to imagine that many employers who are frustrated with the increased costs the bill will impose on them will simply drop mental health coverage altogether.

That, of course, would be counterproductive to the intent of the bill.

In fact, it would hurt the very people the bill purports to help.

Mr. Speaker, the cost of health care is at perhaps an all time high.

Between 2000 and 2006, premiums for family coverage have increased by 87 percent, making the average premium families' paid last year $12,106.

This is not the time to make coverage less affordable.

Though I appreciate my colleagues' good intentions, the negative impact this bill would have on our overall health care market is too serious to ignore and I must oppose it.

Madam Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

Yes, in its current form.

Madam Speaker, our Founding Fathers wrote our Nation's fundamental values of freedom and representative government into our Constitution. This includes the people's second amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Citizens who are in compliance with the law should not have those rights taken away, including those who live in public housing. Yet, public housing authorities, including the one right here in our Nation's Capital, are telling residents that in order to be a resident of public housing, you must give up your second amendment rights. You must give up your right to own a firearm for sport or for hunting or, most importantly, to protect yourself or your family.

Let me quote from the January 2008 dwelling lease agreement for D.C.: ``Lessee and all Others are required to comply with the following use restrictions and requirements . . . To refrain from storing, maintaining, using, distributing, purchasing or selling any type of firearms or ammunition on the Leased Premises or the Development, whether registered or unregistered.''

In other words, Madam Speaker, even if you comply with all the laws of the District of Columbia related to gun ownership, you are prohibited from owning a gun if you are a resident of public housing.

We are talking about law-abiding citizens, not criminals. Criminals are already largely prohibited from residing in public housing. Residents of public housing share the same legal rights to possess lawful property and to take measures to defend their lives as do homeowners who control their estate.

The D.C. policy clearly discriminates against the poorest members of our society simply because they are residents of public housing.

Less than 2 weeks ago, 250 Members of this House of Representatives, including 65 Members of the majority, who said there shouldn't be any gun ban here in the District of Columbia signed a bipartisan amicus curiae brief in District of Columbia v. Heller, which said it is a case that currently is before the United States Supreme Court which questions the constitutionality of the D.C. gun ban. The amicus brief supports the ruling by a lower Federal appeals court which upheld the constitutional right of individual citizens to keep and bear arms.

Just to refresh my colleagues one more time, one notable line from the brief states, and I quote, ``Had Americans in 1787 been told that the Federal Government could ban the frontiersman in his log cabin, or the city merchant living above his store, from keeping firearms to provide for and protect himself and his family, it is hard to imagine that the Constitution would have been ratified.''

The D.C. public housing restriction goes even further than the D.C. gun ban in question in this case.

Madam Speaker, we must assure that Americans living in public housing have their personal right to possess firearms for hunting or self- defense.

This motion to recommit is simple. It clarifies that public housing authorities that participate in the asset management program cannot prohibit their law-abiding tenants from possessing firearms and ammunition.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this motion, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Yes.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the request from the majority leader; however, the answer would be no.

We are aware of this problem, and it's very important that we send this back to the committee so that it will be fixed.

Madam Speaker and Majority Leader, as you know, the important point is that the committee has a chance to look at this measure. They did not have a chance to do so. We want to make sure that they have the opportunity to fix the bill.

Madam Speaker, I am thrilled to rise today and congratulate an amazing Minnesota couple from White Bear Lake.

Clarence and Mayme Vail, ages 101 and 99, just celebrated their 83rd anniversary, making them perhaps the longest married couple in the Nation.

Sixty years ago their marriage was almost cut tragically short when Clarence became severely ill.

But Mayme made a promise to God that if Clarence recovered she would go to Mass every single day. Sure enough, Clarence got well, and Mayme kept her promise.

Clarence and Mayme's marriage has brought much joy to the world and touched many lives--including six children, 39 grandchildren, 101 great-grandchildren, and 40 great-great grandchildren.

Their amazing relationship is a profound testament to love, faith, and the cherished institution of marriage. Madam Speaker, I ask that this body join me in honoring Clarence and Mayme for what is truly a moving and inspiring achievement.

Mr. Speaker, it truly is a momentous evening this evening and the entire day here on the March for Life that occurred here on our Nation's capital, and it is a privilege for me to be here as a freshman Member of Congress, hailing from the very cold State of Minnesota, to be able to be here on this floor on this momentous occasion.

We heard so many eloquent speakers, led by Trent Franks, a man who has a great love for people, not just a love for babies, not just a love for women. He has a love for people, and I am so grateful for the wonderful hour that he just led. We have other Members of Congress, Mr. Speaker, who have come down to this Chamber because they are moved by this issue, not just for their love for babies or their love for women or love for men, but they are moved by many factors that go to increase our Nation and the natural resources that are in our Nation.

One of those is Mr. Bishop who is from Utah's First District, and he would like to speak for a few moments on the floor of Congress.

I thank Mr. Bishop so much. The people from the First District of Utah have to be so proud of you, especially on the issue of life.

Mr. Speaker, now I would like to introduce the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Garrett) for whom I have a great deal of respect. He has a tremendous story to tell, and I yield to Mr. Garrett.

Thank you, Mr. Garrett. Appreciate your kindness and your words of love and life for those who are our fellow Americans. Thank you, and thank the people of New Jersey for sending you to this great body.

Now we have a man that I've known for a number of years of whom I just have great admiration. His name is Mr. Todd Akin from Missouri's Second District. I yield to Mr. Akin from Missouri.

Thank you, Mr. Akin. It was a delight to be able to hear you speak, Mr. Akin. I know the people of Missouri's Second are honored that you are their Member of Congress. That was certainly a heartfelt emotion that you shared with us at the microphone, and I thank you for bringing what for many Americans is the pivotal watershed issue of our day, and I thank you for speaking so eloquently to that.

We have next before us this evening during this hour, Mr. Jeb Hensarling from Texas' Fifth District.

Mr. Hensarling is a very special Member of Congress to me. He is my mentor here and is a giant among men in many ways. He's a giant in my eyes, and a giant I know for his wife, a giant for his two children.

He lives the words that he speaks on a daily basis. There is no greater testimony that any man or any woman could ever have is the testimony of their life, and that, Mr. Hensarling, he knows very well.

And so with that, I yield to Mr. Jeb Hensarling of Texas' Fifth District.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Hensarling from Texas' Fifth District. He has confirmed once again to me, Mr. Speaker, that not only is he a giant among men here in this body, but he is a gentle giant, and those are the greatest of all.

I think I have seen a tenderness here this evening, a softness and an eloquence that he speaks, the foundational nature of the issue that we are grappling tonight. There is a sweet sorrow, if you will, regarding this subject because we are talking about something that is dealing with the foundational nature of this country and yet of all humanity, and that is life and what we will do with life.

And I jotted down just a few words before I came up to manage this hour. And I wrote down that every generation, Mr. Speaker, seems to grapple with an issue that transcends all others. That issue for 31 years has been whether government will protect from destruction life, innocent human life.

Our American landscape has changed so dramatically over these last 31 years. I was in high school when the Roe v. Wade decision came down. I hate to admit I was so ignorant when I was a junior in high school, I didn't even know what abortion meant. I didn't even know what it was. What innocence that time was in the early seventies here in the United States.

In that time, Mr. Speaker, we have lost 50 million fellow Americans, and now we've lost the children, some of whom those 50 million would have borne. There are 50 million women whose bodies were violated by the horrific violence that we call here in this chamber abortion. There are 50 million men who have lost out on the tremendous privilege and joy of fatherhood, and our Nation today is poorer because we're missing, Mr. Speaker, 50 million fellow Americans, so sadly.

An inordinate number of these 50 million Americans are children of color. We needed those children of color in our Nation. We needed those African American babies, those Latino babies, those Asian babies. We need them, Mr. Speaker, in our Nation.

And we mourn together the loss of these priceless treasures that would have woven a beautiful tapestry of humanity even here in our midst. Yes, we mourn with a great sadness, but we also rejoice, and we also take great joy in the fact that today, even now, we're making a down payment because today is a new day.

It's a new day for a future of change, and it's my hope and my prayer that it is today, Mr. Speaker, that the words that are spoken on this floor would captivate the attention of young women and young men across our Nation, young people who may have had the chance to turn this show this evening on television, who would choose to respect their bodies and would choose to respect their sexuality and choose to respect their fertility because fertility is a gift. It's not a given. It's a gift.

Ask those people who can't have children. Ask women with love who would love to bear a child but can't, young people who will choose to be givers in this Nation, givers to one another in love, givers to themselves, givers to our Nation and givers to the next generation of Americans.

Today, earlier, I had the great privilege of being in my home State of Minnesota. I went up to the steps of our State capitol. Thousands of Minnesotans had gathered. You think it's cold in Washington, DC? There is nothing like a March For Life rally in the State of Minnesota. It was sub-zero. I wasn't wearing boots. I had a wool overcoat on, and in a moment, my feet were tingling, freezing cold. There were thousands that were there that had braved sub-zero freezing temperatures, holding signs, from cities across the State of Minnesota because they wanted to be there to choose life, Mr. Speaker, and march for the greatest gift that any of us have ever had, the gift of life.

I want to take these few minutes right now to thank the Americans and the people across the globe who have chosen to adopt children. There is no such thing in this country as an unwanted child. There is no such thing. There is a line a mile long of men and women who would give anything tonight to adopt a child. Yes, even the less than a perfect child there's a mile long group of people who would say me, let me, just like Mother Theresa of India who said give them to me and I will take these children.

Thank you to those who have chosen to give life, and whether you kept that child or blessed another family with a child, thank you for choosing life tonight.

I want to thank parents who have chosen to be foster parents, who have taken children in less than ideal situations, or parents that couldn't cope

with a child who was difficult. I thank the foster parents who have opened your hearts, opened your arms, opened your homes, who've inconvenienced yourselves, but yet, you have chosen a better way, to give life in a different sort of way to children in foster homes.

I also want to thank the women who have chosen life and the parents who have encouraged their young daughters or their sons to be supportive of women in a situation where they didn't know if they would choose life or if they would choose to take life. I thank the parents.

It's easy when your child is suffering with an unplanned pregnancy to say it's okay, I'll support you, I'll take you to that abortion clinic, I will pay for that abortion. But they don't always recognize that there is a price that that young woman will pay for the rest of her life in her emotion because her arms will be forever empty, and she'll know that there is a baby that could have been hers and yet was not, or a young man who knows he could have been a father to that baby.

Parents, think again. Taking the easy way isn't always the easy way, Mr. Speaker, and for boyfriends who just heard the news that their girlfriend is pregnant, oh, my gosh, of course I will pay for the abortion you say, let's do that. You don't need this; I don't need this. We've got a whole life in front of us. Who needs this? We can do this. I will borrow the money from my parents, the boyfriend might say, Mr. Speaker, or yet he might say I'll drop you if you don't have this abortion. I'll leave you. I'll walk out on you.

There's another way. There's another choice. There's a choice called life, and it may be inconvenient and it may be embarrassing and it may be expensive, and yes, it will change your life and there may be pain, but there will be joy when you hear that first cry, when you hold that hand that literally covers your finger. And when you look in those eyes and you stroke that silky hair, there is nothing like that baby that you will see, and it will change your life as a young man. It will change your life as a young woman.

That baby has the power to change America. Every baby has the power to change this country. They are America's greatest natural resource.

I thank my parents, David and Jean, who gave me life. I thank my husband who stood by me with our five babies and who stood by me when we lost a baby. I thank you for standing by me when we didn't know if we could go on anymore, and I thank you for stepping up to the plate, for being willing to bring 23 foster children into our home so we could offer an alternative for those children and hopefully give them a down payment on a future and on a hope.

These remarks that we gave here tonight are not about condemning anyone. Who could? Who could? I couldn't condemn anyone. Who could? But it's about lifting up people. We're here to lift up people. These remarks tonight weren't given to judge anyone. Who could? We're here to heal and offer a healing alternative.

That's why recently I introduced a bill, and it's a bipartisan bill. Democrats are on this bill. Republicans are on this bill. This is not partisan. This is about life, and this is about humanity and choosing the best that are among us, and in the Positive Alternatives Act, we just say something very simply. It says that today there are tax dollars that go to Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortion in the United States. Tax dollars go to Planned Parenthood.

There are not tax dollars that go to life care centers in this country, and we want to change that. We want to level the playing field.

And we want to give a positive alternative all across this great country so that there is a chance for men and women to say, let me think about this. Maybe I don't want to choose death. Maybe I want to choose something else. Maybe there's someone out there who can help me through a difficult time, who could help me with my medical needs, who could help me to get a job, who could help me get some education, who could help me get clothes on my back, who could help me if I want to keep this baby, who could help me if I want to give this baby to a family who maybe doesn't have a baby. It's just common decency to allow for an alternative that leads to life and not lead to guilt and to death, and perhaps remorse that even a lifetime could never erase.

We are such a great country, Mr. Speaker. I know you feel that way, I know you do. And we're a blessed country. Let's choose life. Let's choose the better way. It's the American way.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members in this body may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order today.

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn.

The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 9 o'clock and 15 minutes p.m.), the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at 10 a.m.

Thank you, Representative. What an honor to be able to be here. What an illustrious class we have, and I appreciate the gentleman from California so much for his fine direction, for his leadership and for our class. He is doing a wonderful and able job. He is telling the story that the American people want to hear, and that is where we are in this particular quarter, what is happening with our finances, because that is what we do, after all, when we come here to the United States Congress. We come here for a very simple purpose. We have to deal with 11 spending bills covering various subjects, and we have to take care of those. We have to make sure that we fully fund the priorities that we believe in and make sure that we

are keeping faith with the American people and doing so in a way that respects their property, their private property.

Because after all, what is it that each one of us has? We have our time. We have our livelihood. And when we go out to work every day, the money that we bring home for our families, the money that we bring home that we hope that some day will buy us a home, put our children through college, maybe have enough to offer us a secure retirement, that is the result of our labor that we take every day.

And where are we at now in this country with the amount of money that the government is consuming out of our paychecks? It seems every year those days go a little bit longer and longer when Congress is consuming more money. That is a real concern for a lot of Americans. I know it is a concern for me. It is a concern for our family and for the people that I represent back in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District. And I know as I have spoken with our fellow freshmen, and many will follow me up here when I conclude my remarks, they will tell you the same thing.

They are very concerned about how the people back home are going to be able to hold on to the fruits of their labor, the private property that they have been able to amass and accumulate for the benefit of their family.

Well, here's just one topic that I want to take tonight, just one little piece, and spend a very few moments on it, and it's a concept called the alternative minimum tax. Now, this is something that came about in the Tax Code back in 1969. Back in 1969, there was a hue and cry because there were about 155 multimillionaires who didn't pay taxes that year, and rightly so. There were a lot of middle-income Americans, lower-income Americans that were pretty upset about this. They were paying taxes, but they saw that wealthier people, through legitimate loopholes, you might say, or legitimate provisions in the Tax Code, were able to completely escape taxation.

Well, this created, as you can imagine, a hue and cry right here in this body. So the Congress decided to create a bill called the alternative minimum tax. What this would do, essentially, is a person would have to figure their tax once. If they didn't have a tax liability, under the alternative minimum tax they figured their tax a second time, and whichever tax liability was higher, that is the tax that we get paid. In other words, whichever way that Uncle Sam did better, that would be the final outcome of a person's tax return. So the American citizen never was able to pay the lower amount of tax; they always had to pay the higher amount of tax.

Well, the alternative minimum tax kind of turned into something that you might equate with one of those 1950 science fiction movies called, maybe, ``The Blob that Ate New York City,'' because that is what has happened with the alternative minimum tax. It has become kind of like ``the blob that ate New York City.''

Now, remember back in 1969, 155 Americans were impacted by the alternative minimum tax; in other words, they had to pay a higher tax. That is what that means; 155 Americans. Well, guess what Congress forgot to do? They forgot to index this tax for inflation. So, guess what? Every year more and more Americans had to pay this tax, and more and more Americans were reclassified as being wealthy or rich.

Well, guess what? Last year, 3.5 million Americans had to pay the alternative minimum tax. One hundred fifty-five, 3.5 million. Guess where we are today? As of today, this Congress has done nothing, absolutely nothing to eradicate the alternative minimum tax. You know what will happen? Twenty-three million Americans will be impacted by this measure. That is redefining what rich means in this country.

So, do you know what the new definition of rich will be? It will be a police officer married to a teacher. Now, think of that, a police officer married to a teacher. We don't usually think of people in those income tax categories as being redefined as rich. But now, under the so-called wisdom of this Congress, that is exactly what has happened

Now this is a problem. We cannot allow this higher level of taxation to seep down into the middle class where people are working hard. They aren't rich by any stretch of the imagination. They are just hardworking, decent people, trying to make a go of it; not what this tax was intended to impact. That is something we need to consider. There actually can be a conclusion. Sometimes the curtain needs to come down on ill-advised measures; and if there ever was an ill-advised measure, it's the alternative minimum tax.

I just want to give you a figure here. Historically, over the last 40 years, and we are standing here, it's a beautiful December evening in Washington, D.C., the year 2007. For the last 40 years in this country, the Federal Government has consumed about 18.2 percent of gross domestic product. That is pretty much the money that is created and generated in this country every year, gross domestic product. Well, guess what? The Federal Government has consumed about 18.2 percent.

If this Congress continues to do nothing, and unfortunately, that is a lot of what we have seen this year is a lot of do nothing, if Congress continues to do nothing with the alternative minimum tax, instead of 18.2 percent of all the money that is created in this country, that number will rise to 24 percent. Almost one-fourth of everything that is created, the income that is created in this country will come where, to your pocket? Are you kidding? It will come here to the United States Government. That is not what we want to see happen.

This is kind of a dream come true for politicians that love big government, because they don't have to vote for this tax increase. It's just on automatic overdrive. It's going to continue to grow. Just like I said, ``the blob that ate New York City,'' that is the alternative minimum tax.

That is not what those of us who are standing up here to talk to you about tonight, with fiscal responsibility, that is not what we are about. That is not what we want. What we are after is a clean, straight repeal. We want this ill-advised tax to go away. People think that a tax is here forever, that you will never get rid of it. You never get rid of death, you never get rid of taxes. Well, it is possible to do it. It's possible to do it if we have the will.

I believe collectively the American people would want us to get rid of this ``blob that ate New York City,'' the alternative minimum tax, because why should the government continue to profit from a bad law so that you will have to continue to spend more and more and more of your income. And pretty soon, everybody's going to be redefined as rich, everybody will be, and pay a higher level of taxation. This is absolutely ridiculous. There is no reason why we should continue a law like this, and I fully believe that we need to do something about this bill, and do it soon.

Now, here's one aspect that is being debated even this evening. There are those on the other side of the aisle that think that we have to ``pay'' for this tax. In other words, you need to continue to be taxed more. Here's how they plan to do it. They plan to create a bank account, if you will. And what the other side across the aisle is planning to do, you know what they are going to put in that bank account? They want to put tax increases in that account. They want to have a 1-year tax or 1-year patch, or fix. So instead of 23 million people paying that tax this year, they just want it to be 3.5 million people. Still too many. It's 3.5 million too many people, if you ask me.

But what they want to do is create a bank account and put tax increases in it. And what they are going to do, just ``take it to the bank,'' as they say. The American people are going to be stuck with a bill of $50 billion in tax increases that you're going to have to pay, maybe not next year, but the year after. That bill is going to be stuck to the American taxpayer.

We can do so much better. Do you know that we have more revenues coming in this year into the Treasury than any other time in the history of this country? Revenues are not the problem. We don't need all this additional revenue. What we need is some fiscal discipline, some fiscal responsibility. We need to get our sense about us and realize we just can't be all things to all

people. We set our priorities. We do what you do every day at home in your home and in your business. You just realize you need to spend within your means.

So we need to get right on this. We need to not create any phony bank accounts where we don't put money in, we put IOUs in that you the American public are going to have to pay. We are going to get rid of that.

We want to just do a clean repeal, do away with the alternative minimum tax, be fiscally responsible, be good and kind to the American people. That is a Christmas present that we need to pass and send out to the American people tonight. That Christmas present needs to say that we respect you, we respect your work, we understand how hard you work, we understand that your family means the world to you, your children mean the world to you, your parents mean the world to you, your business could use a little bit more capital investment too. We trust you, and we know that you can put that money to work far better than any of us collectively ever could hope to do. There are essentials that government has to fund, but what we don't need to do is have a blob that eats not only New York City, but the rest of the United States.

So I for one, Representative McCarthy, believe with you that we need to do right by the American people, trust their judgment, be sensitive to their family needs, and do away with the alternative minimum tax.

Madam Speaker, 'tis the season to be jolly for Americans, unless, of course, you happen to be a tax planner or a taxpayer wondering if your finances are going to throw you into a sea of confusion when you file your tax return in April of 2008. Under the current tax filing mess, because the majority has failed to repeal the alternative minimum tax, the average tax increase for tens of millions of Americans will increase by over $2,000.

Children hope for candy or presents in their stocking and not a lump of coal. But since 1969, the alternative minimum tax has represented a lump of coal for millions of Americans. We should do right by the American people, Madam Speaker, and put an end to the alternative minimum tax once and for all. That's a Christmas present every American can use.