John Thune: “Well, the gentleman's experience is not unlike that of many, I would submit, around the country. And clearly we have…”

“Well, the gentleman's experience is not unlike that of many, I would submit, around the country. And clearly we have come a very long way in this country from the concept I think that we had at our foundation, the conception that our forefathers had of this country, that government would only do for people those things that they cannot do for themselves. And somehow along the way we have complicated and convoluted and confused that concept to the point where today, as the gentleman knows, there are just enormous amounts of red tape and regulations and burdens that are placed upon citizens living in our society and a commensurate loss of the freedoms, the personal freedoms, that they used to enjoy in America. I cannot help but recollect something I was reading the other day about the number of words that we have in government which is a good illustration. In the Lord's prayer there are some 66 words. In the Gettysburg address, 286 words, and the Declaration of Independence, some 1,326 words. And yet we have 26,940 some words governing the sale of cabbage in America today. So it has crept into, I think, all aspects of our lives.”