Republican Study Committee

Floor Speech

REPUBLICAN STUDY COMMITTEE -- (House of Representatives - March 22, 2007)

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Thank you to the gentleman from Iowa. It's great to be here. I take this responsibility, not only this evening, very seriously, but being elected as a Member of the United States House of Representatives very seriously.

My primary responsibility, I believe, is to protect the freedoms that so many Americans enjoy and, perhaps, have taken for granted for a time. I think back to the terrorist acts leveled on our country, and that is a constant reminder that we cannot sit idly by, that we cannot let division sway us from our goal. I believe that one of the fundamental sources of our freedom is through economic freedom, and that is why I requested a spot on the Budget Committee.

Incidentally, last night, we had a long markup of the budget. It was very enlightening to me as a new Member, and it was very enlightening to me, I think, some of the rhetoric and the objectives of a budget. We know that so often we want to tell people, yes, in terms of the of new programs, of new spending. There comes a time, though, when we are going to have to pay for that.

There was a lot of rhetoric exchanged in terms of what tax relief has done for our economy, some would say what it hasn't done for the budget. But I don't know if it's just coincidence that the economy turned around with tax relief. I don't think it's coincidence, to be quite honest with you. But it is interesting how the allegations are leveled that the Bush administration tax relief or the Reagan tax relief or, quite honestly, the President John F. Kennedy tax relief had nothing to do with a rebounding economy subsequently.

It was very enlightening to me, in fact, when I was visiting the JFK Library in Boston, or outside of Boston. This is not the Ronald Reagan Library; this is not the Bush 41 or the Bush 43 library. This is the John F. Kennedy Library that has an entire exhibit devoted to the economic policies of tax relief leading to economic prosperity.

I believe that it has to do with the very basics of economic freedom that individuals, families, you name it, when they have those dollars in their hands, they can spend it more wisely on the economy, rather than paying it into the government, and then the government doling it out as a redistribution of wealth or whatever the case might be.

But it does amaze me that we are here listening to the need for so much more spending. In fact, a high level of spending wasn't enough to get enough support, so they made it even higher to bring on more support. That concerns me, and I know that it concerns many Americans as well.

But as we were marking up the budget last night in committee well into the night, it was interesting how we heard that the majority wants to maintain the tax relief relating to the marriage penalty, tax relief relating to the child tax credit, but yet the budget doesn't show that. The budget does not show that. And it just spoke volumes, I guess, in terms of sound budgeting according to the principles I think of economic freedoms that should be instilled there.

But when we talk about something, we politicians kind of get a bad name now and then, or maybe more often than that, for saying one thing and doing another. That is unfortunate, because this budget says one thing and does another, and that is my concern.

It is interesting that there were amendments proposed for the budget resolution last night that would have solidified the tax relief one measure at a time. So there was the option of cherry-picking, if you will, good parts, bad parts, whatever the case might have been for others wanting to support these amendments. If they like the child tax credit, but didn't like the dividends reduction in taxes, they have the option to choose one without the other. Every single amendment was rejected. Every single amendment. That concerns me a great deal because, like I said, it eats away at what I believe is a fundamental freedom that we should enjoy in America, that being economic freedom.

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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. I did not sense that commitment. It would be hard for me to speak or to speculate. And I am not here to beat up on those with whom I disagree. That is not my job.

I do believe, though, that this supplemental spending bill, and I don't want to take up all of your time, but I do want to touch briefly on the fact that this supplemental spending bill with the caveats that many would call micromanaging the war is the wrong thing to do. I don't think we want to give our enemy any hint of what our plans are. A date certain withdrawal is the wrong thing to do. Certainly that was not discussed, especially in the spending context that we have heard so much here today about and well into the future.

There is a lot we can worry about in the past, but if we don't focus on the future, we are not doing our jobs. And as we look at protecting the freedom, I can't help but think how productive we could be with a more unified approach. And I believe that military generals are trained highly, and that we should entrust in their abilities the objective of doing what they need to do so that we can see success overseas. And I cannot say that enough, but I truly believe that turning a spending bill into a bill to micromanage the war is the wrong thing to do.

Constitutionally the President is the Commander in Chief. No one else is the Commander in Chief. And the Commander in Chief makes the tough decisions. And we can again look at the past and perhaps learn from the past and apply those lessons to the future, which we must do and can do. And if we pay attention to really look at the information and the facts and the data, we can do the right thing, and that is availing the resources to our military, to those most highly trained, those closest to the situation, and allow those folks to make the right decision.

I yield back, but I certainly appreciate this opportunity and would certainly encourage my friend from Iowa to continue his pursuits here, because I think it is helpful, and I hope to join again. Thank you.

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