Sam Brownback: “I rise today to speak on a different issue, one of great importance and one I think we are going to see take place, and…”

“I rise today to speak on a different issue, one of great importance and one I think we are going to see take place, and that is overdue tax relief for the American people. The Congressional Budget Office has just announced the 10-year budget surplus projection has increased to $5.6 trillion. When I came to the House of Representatives in 1994, it would have been hard to fathom numbers of this nature, but through fiscal restraint, a plan put in place to limit the amount of spending over a period of years, and a healthy, growing economy, we are now to the point where we are projecting and experiencing budget surpluses. It is wonderful that we have this opportunity. I also point out to the American public, in case you are worried the Republicans in Congress are taking their eyes off the ball of fiscal discipline and paying down the debt, we are paying down the debt, and we will continue to pay down the debt. Over the past 3 years, we paid down over $360 billion of public debt--$360 billion over 3 years. We will continue at that pace, if not greater, of reducing the Federal debt. We are going to continue to do that. But it also is possible, and I suggest necessary, for us to do the needed tax cuts and tax relief the American public deserves. America's taxpayers are overpaying the bill for their Government. More specifically, it is a tax on their success.”