Joe Barton

Mr. BARTON of Texas

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the amount of time we have?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Peterson).

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood), whose State is the home of the Master's Golf Tournament. (Mr. NORWOOD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), a distinguished war veteran and member of the Committee on Ways and Means. (Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the Arizona (Mr. J.D. Hayworth).

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Isakson), the newest Member of the House but one of the most effective Members. (Mr. ISAKSON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Colorado (Mr. Tancredo).

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Colorado (Mr. Hefley), who has been very patient.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the gentleman from Texas for his leadership. He has been an original leader of this since 1995. His job is more difficult because, while the Republican leadership supports this amendment, the Democratic leadership does not, so I want to appreciate how hard he has worked on it and how successful he has been in getting support on the Democratic side.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Bliley), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Commerce, who represents with distinction the Seventh District of Virginia.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct privilege and high honor to yield 2\3/4\ minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Armey), the majority leader of the House of Representatives, who represents the 26th District of Texas.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Fossella). (Mr. FOSSELLA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I plead guilty. I raise my hand and I plead guilty. I want to make it more difficult to raise taxes on the American people. I am sorry, but that is the way I feel. Let us just do a little basic math. Most of us took fractions back in elementary school. At least I did at Travis Elementary in Bryan, Texas. Which is the bigger fraction, one-half or two-thirds? When we run the math, we find out, at least in Ennis, Texas, and Travis Elementary in Bryan, Texas, that two-thirds is the bigger fraction by one-sixth. Now, if we convert that one-sixth increase to 435 Members of the House of Representatives, it means it would make it more difficult to raise taxes by approximately 70 votes in the House of Representatives. I think that is a good thing, not a bad thing. Now, to my good friend from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio), if he is still on the House floor, he may have already left, but if he is still on the House floor, I hope he understands that by the end of the day, American taxpayers will have paid to the U.S. Treasury $828 billion. $828 billion. If we add the Social Security taxes, which are over $300 billion, the American taxpayers will have paid over $1 trillion to the U.S. Treasury this year. $1 trillion. That is a thousand billion dollars. How much is enough? Why not raise the bar? Why not go to two-thirds vote in the House and the Senate to raise taxes instead of the one- half? Now, to my constitutional friends who say, why should we monkey with the Constitution, I answer, because we already have back in 1913 when we amended the Constitution to make the Federal income tax legal. Before that point we could not have a direct tax like an income tax. It was unconstitutional; 100 percent prohibition against an income tax until 1913. How high has the marginal tax rate gone since 1913? It has gone up 4,000 percent. 4,000 percent. So this debate today is very simple. Do my colleagues understand fractions? I assume my friends on the Democratic side understand fractions. Two-thirds is bigger than one-half. We would make it more difficult, not impossible, to raise taxes. If they think that is a good thing, call their congressman, say, vote for the tax limitation amendment; help us get 290 votes to send it to the Senate; and then help the Senate get 67 votes to send it to the States; and then help the States get three-fourths of them to pass it and put it in the Constitution so that we make it a little bit tougher to raise taxes. That is what this vote is all about. The rule that is before us is a good rule. It allows the Democrat minority, if they wish to, to amend it. We have had process debate on this before. It is time to vote it out today and send it to the Senate.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 5 minutes. (Mr. BARTON of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BARTON of Texas. What is the Speaker's recommendation as to who should go now? I will follow whatever the precedence of the House is. But I would appreciate it if my good friend from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) would use some of his time.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Further parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we have two additional speakers, myself and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg), the original cosponsors, plus possibly the Speaker of the House. We have approximately the same amount of time. Do I have to use time at this point in time?

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Parliamentary inquiry, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have three additional speakers, if the Speaker of the House shows up, so we are basically ready to close. If the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) or his designee wishes to use some time, we would appreciate it.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kansas, (Mr. Ryun), the former world record holder in the mile.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), one of the great congressmen from the Palmetto State.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I know. We are uncouth in Texas.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg), the distinguished cosponsor of the amendment who has worked long and hard with me.

Mr. BARTON of Texas. I will agree to that.