Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, what was designed as a coercive mandatory and permanent program now is being sold as voluntary and temporary. The principal argument in its favor apparently is it is not as bad as it could be. Well, we all know that government programs do not stay voluntary or temporary very long. This one is not voluntary to begin with, and as Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform pointed out yesterday, income tax withholding was introduced as a temporary funding mechanism in World War II. The concept of American citizens having to obtain government working papers, or in the language of the bill, a confirmation code, in order to work, is antithetical to the principles I was sent here to support. But I ask my colleagues to think ahead 5 or 10 or 15 years from now and decide whether you want to look back and say yeah, I did vote to put that system into place, or no, I did the right thing. I voted to stop it when it could have been stopped. Please join me and the gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Conyers] in supporting this amendment, along with everyone from the Christian Coalition to the ACLU, to the ABA, and every business group that has taken a stand.”