Jim Sensenbrenner: “Mr. Speaker, in response to the comment that I made, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) said that since the…”

“Mr. Speaker, in response to the comment that I made, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) said that since the income tax amendment was ratified in 1913, we have done very well. I would agree with her 100 percent. We have done too well. We have done too well having an escalating cascade of taxes on the American people. What has happened is that we went from the original Constitution that seemed to serve us very well for 140 years prohibiting direct taxes on the American people, to having the pendulum swing far too far in the other direction so that now the Federal tax expressed as a percentage of GDP is the highest in peacetime history of our country. Mr. Speaker, this amendment pushes that pendulum back in the middle by making it harder to raise taxes. I think the American people would say hooray for that because Congress has been much to eager since 1913 to dip into the pockets of the American taxpayer deeper and deeper.”