Asa Hutchinson: “I especially commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling], my chairman, for his outstanding statement a few…”

“I especially commend the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Goodling], my chairman, for his outstanding statement a few moments ago in which he gave a clear rebuttal for the mindless political rhetoric, that we hear over and over again, in which the opponents of this bill recite like a mantra the phrase ``tax breaks for the wealthiest in our society.'' Mr. Chairman, are the wealthiest in our society like that couple in my district that makes $25,000 a year with two children who are going to find, with the $500 per child tax credit, that their Federal tax liability will be eliminated altogether? Or like my wealthy friends, the grandmother and the grandfather who have worked for 30 years on a farm in northwest Arkansas and as they reach retirement age and want to move in town, to get close to quality health care, discover they cannot afford to sell their farm because of exorbitant capital gains tax rates? Mr. Chairman, yes, these are the wealthy friends that we want to help in our society. My colleague says that, yes, 90 percent of the American people support higher investment in education. I believe that. I believe my constituents do. But they want to invest it where it will work and it will work when we invest that money locally, not when we invest it in more Federal spending on education. Mr. Chairman, Americans last November rejected the ``government- knows-best'' philosophy that has held sway for far too long.”