every Member of Congress takes an oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution, and today we are challenged to do our duty under that oath

earlier this year a Treasury Department official described Americans who wanted further tax relief as ``selfish.'' Two weeks ago the minority leader in the other body said, and I quote, that he did not think most Americans were overtaxed…

I find it ironic that the debate is centering around whether this is for public schools, against public schools, whether it is for private schools. This has nothing to do with support for one school system or another. What this HELP…

My colleagues, Republicans here in the House, have begun a bold campaign to strengthen and reform our Nation's education system. We are attempting to send more dollars directly to the classrooms, trying to return control of education to…

we have spent the past several years knocking down the status quo barriers to our children's future, but nowhere is the status quo still more evident than in the Federal education establishment, a bureaucracy built on empty promises to our…

it is really happening: the first time in 30 years we are actually going to balance the Federal budget. The first time in a few years we are going to save Medicare and extend the life of the trust fund for 10 years. We took those votes…

I have known and worked with Jay since I came to Congress in 1990 and have grown to admire and respect his professionalism and his work product. I am honored today to be able to stand on the floor and introduce this resolution to make him…

and my colleagues, it is really going to happen, the first balanced budget in a generation, the first tax cut from Washington in 16 years, and a program to strengthen and preserve Medicare. Members from both sides of the political aisle…

America has enjoyed many months of uninterrupted economic recovery. But the recovery is not enough. If we are to prevail in the long run, we must expand the long won strength of our economy. To achieve these greater gains, one step above…

the House is voting today on a plan to make the government smaller, less costly, and more responsible and accountable to the people that it serves. Members from both sides of the aisle have crafted it, and appropriately so. There is no…

the average family in America in 1950 paid about four percent of their income in taxes to all levels of government. Today that tax load on the typical American family of 4 is about 24 percent; 24 percent of their gross income goes to…

there is something strange that has been happening here in the Capitol over the last 22 years, something that we have not seen for quite a while. It is a group of politicians who are actually keeping their word. In the fall of 1994, we…

tonight over the next hour, I and my colleagues in the Republican leadership here in the U.S. House will be discussing our agreement with the White House to balance the Federal budget over the next 5 years, the permanent tax cuts that will…

I really do not think there are any losers in this, but the real winners in this agreement are not Republicans or Democrats, it is the American people who are the big winners. We all know that we have accumulated some $5 rac{1}{2} trillion…

Tax increases. I thank the gentleman very much for the correction, tax increases. Tax increases is not even in the jargon of this place anymore. It is hard to even say. But tax increases, spending increases. Look at the budget that the…

Funding for the WIC Program in the current fiscal year is at $3.7 billion, the highest level ever spent for this very important program. Beyond that, we have added $38 million in additional funding to try to ensure that all of those…

there is no mystery why we pay taxes in the spring and we vote in the fall, and it is because Washington wants to give the American people as long as possible to forget how high their taxes are before they vote. It is because Washington…

last December while I was on vacation with my family, I used my wife's cell phone to talk to some of my colleagues. A few weeks later I found that the conversation was all over the newspapers, and I had found out that a couple of Democrat…

we have a very important bill on the floor today, the Working Families Flexibility Act of 1997. As the gentlewoman from Ohio, my colleague, pointed out in her opening remarks, the work force today is very different than it was in the…

the tactics being employed on the floor today I think are extremely unfortunate. All 435 Members of this House know that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is made up in a bipartisan way, the only such committee of the…

One thing that we have all learned over the last couple of years is that the 435 Members of the House each has their own idea about how to change the campaign finance system we have in America. One of the most difficult things that I have…

welfare should not be a way of life. Republicans are committed to replacing welfare with real work. However, President Clinton just wants to play politics with this issue, and there is no excuse that is too vague or too convoluted for…

over the weekend we were saddened to learn of the death of one of our colleague, Bill Emerson. from the great State of Missouri. Many of the Members know that Bill had been fighting a battle with cancer over the last 10 months. Bill lost…

Republicans have a health care bill that ensures affordability, accessibility and ensures that preexisting conditions will not deny an individual health care coverage any longer. It makes health care more affordable to small businesses and…

In 1992, candidate Bill Clinton refused to sign a waiver that would allow the FBI to release requested information from his FBI file. The candidate's, in 1992, press secretary said and I quote, "It is a personal file and he is not going to…