Jack Kingston: “in 1994 Republicans were elected to the House in great numbers, 73 new Republican freshmen. They came to Washington with…”

“in 1994 Republicans were elected to the House in great numbers, 73 new Republican freshmen. They came to Washington with lots of reforms in their mind. But since then they have been called extremist, mean-spirited, callous, fanatical and so forth and that has become their label. Yet when we see what their agenda really was, this thing called the Contract With America, what was it designed to do? It was designed to reduce the size of government, to cut wasteful spending, to lower taxes, to balance the budget, to reform welfare, and to increase personal freedom. The folks I talk to back home in the grocery store checkout line, they do not consider these things extremist ideas. They think that they are commonsense ideas and reforms that we need to do. Let us look at this in a little more detail. Do you think it is extreme to try to balance the budget the way you and I have to in our household at the end of each month? Do you think it is a good idea to do something about the $20 billion that we spend each month just in interest on the national debt? Do you think we should pass this legacy on to our children? Or do you think we should do something about it? And do you think, Mr. Speaker, that it is extreme to try to balance this budget in a 7-year period of time, so that you do not pull the rug out from under anybody? Do you think that lowering the rate of spending is extreme, so that one day the revenues that come in, tax dollars, and our spending will be equal?”