Gary Franks: “Mr. Speaker, I am of the opinion that the situation of the taxpayer is one of desperation. For years, the American…”

“Mr. Speaker, I am of the opinion that the situation of the taxpayer is one of desperation. For years, the American taxpayer has been like a person stranded in the middle of the desert, crawling, straining, praying for the first sight of that precious, random oasis which would provide him with the water to quench his thirst and give him relief. However, the aching taxpayer suffering in the desert sun has become rightfully cynical. He knows that because of the deception of the heat, he may not be able to believe his eyes. You see, Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, the taxpayer has had to deal with a series of tax-related mirages. For example, he had to deal with a mirage in 1988 that said to him 'Read my lips, no new taxes.' But that mirage raised taxes on the American people in an ill-advised budget deal in 1990. After that, the taxpayer had to handle the mirage that comes to him in 1992 and promised him middle-class tax relief but then, in early 1993, that mirage went ahead and gave him the largest tax increase in American history.”