Trent Lott, "Republican Response to the 1998 State of the Union Address"

Tonight, I'd like to share with you our plans, here in the Congress, for
a safer, stronger and more prosperous America. 

Those plans are shaped by our commitment to family, to faith and to
freedom. And they highlight some real differences between the
Republican Party and the president concerning what government
should do -- and how much of your money government should take. 

Big government or families? More taxes or more freedom? 

We believe the choice is clear. The first priority of your
representatives in Washington must be to fight for the interests of the
American family. 

That's why one of the first things we'll tackle is real reform of the IRS.
I'll have more to say about that later, but the bottom line is this: We
are going to stop the abuses the IRS is inflicting on American
taxpayers. You've got our word on it! 

Also, we'll be building on the progress of the last few years when our
Republican Congress, working with the nation's governors, took
some historic first steps. 

We took the first step in transforming welfare into workfare. We
started reducing taxes, especially for families with children. And with
considerable difficulty, we finally worked out a long-term agreement
with the president for a balanced budget. 

We protected Medicare. And in that same way, we're going to protect
Medicare this year against any changes that would imperil its
financial stability. 

We strengthened education opportunities for disabled youngsters,
launched a long-overdue reform of the nation's troubled foster care
system, made adoption easier, and encouraged alternatives to
abortion. 

We proved that people of good will and strong faith can work together
to deal with the problems that face our nation and our neighborhoods.

But we have only just begun the difficult job of stopping big
government, making it more responsive and -- perhaps hardest of all
-- rebuilding the trust you used to have in your elected officials. That's
especially important when it comes to education, to taxes, and to the
twin plagues of drugs and crime. 

Those are the three areas where the American people are most
dissatisfied -- and where our freedom is most threatened. 

Parents -- and good teachers as well -- are dissatisfied with schools
where kids don't learn and, in many cases, where they aren't even
safe. When one-quarter -- one out of four -- of our high school
students can barely read, isn't it obvious the current system isn't
working? 

I know we are all fed up with the criminal justice system that has
tragically failed to halt the poisonous epidemic of drugs that is
undermining family life in our country. Violent crime is turning the land
of the free into the land of the fearful. 

Today's workers and today's savers are angry and disillusioned with
a tax code that benefits only tax lawyers and big government. 

Let's take a look at the typical family budget. 

The typical family pays more than 38 percent of its income in taxes.
That's nearly 40 cents of every dollar. That's not just bad policy. It's
immoral. Our tax system should not penalize marriage, hard work or
savings -- not to mention your efforts to keep up with the cost of living.
We believe these high taxes mean less freedom overall. 

And yet President Clinton now wants the government to spend
billions of dollars more. But I don't have to tell you -- if the government
spends more, you'll wind up getting taxed more. 

You know that. He knows that. 

Instead, Republicans want you -- the people who work hard for the
money -- to keep more of what you earn. The president seems to
think that big government can solve all your children's problems if you
will just give government more of your money - and more control over
your lives. Nonsense! 

We think the best thing for safe, healthy children are healthy, stable
families -- not more government programs that require parents to
work longer, take home less and spend less time with the kids. That's
why we fought for a $500 per child tax credit last year. 

Once again, the choice is clear: Big government or families? More
taxes or more freedom? 

The American people elected us in the Congress to listen to you and
then to lead. So while we listen respectfully to the president's ideas,
we cannot wait on them. 

One example is the drug crisis. With all due respect, for the past five
years we've had all kinds of wrong signals. 

It took the president four years to admit the need to reduce the tax
burden on the American people, as we finally did in the Balanced
Budget Act last year. That was a welcome reversal of the
pile-on-the-taxes approach of his first four years in office. 

But you know that Americans are still over-taxed, over-regulated and
over-governed. 

This chart shows how the income of the federal government, over the
last 30 years, has gone up almost 1,000 percent. But during the
same period, family incomes rose only half as much. Government has
gotten fat, while families are working overtime just to stay where they
were. 

We believe hard-working Americans deserve a break. So our focus
in 1998 will be to increase family income by cutting taxes and making
government more accountable for the way it spends your money. 

But tax relief is only the first step. 

As I said earlier, the only way to limit government and expand
individual freedom is to eliminate the IRS as we know it today. 

It is morally wrong for a free people to live in fear of any government
agency. 

It is morally wrong for citizens in a democracy to be presumed guilty
until proven innocent. 

But IRS reform alone isn't enough. The real problem lies with the tax
code itself. It is too long, it is too complicated, it is simply unfair. It
punishes achievement. It discourages work, savings and innovation. 

As Republicans, we pledge to replace the tax code with a new
system that is fair, consistent, easy to understand and less frightening
to the American taxpayer -- a tax code that will end the fear and
encourage savings and investment. 

Finally, because the Republican balanced budget plan is now
working, we should commit, here and now, not to spend any budget
surplus on unnecessary government programs. 

If there is a surplus, we should use part of it to pay down the national
debt, and return the rest to you, the taxpayer. After all, it is your
money. 

Like those tax proposals, the Republican education plan proposes
the same fundamental change from what we have now. As a father,
and a prospective grandfather, I realize that nothing is more important
than the education of our young people. 

Washington today has more than 750 education programs in 39
different bureaucracies. 

That just doesn't make sense. 

And it doesn't make sense for Washington to tax the people in your
community and then give the money back with strings attached. We
want to cut those strings and to remove the out-of-date rules and
restrictions that hold back our schools from the future. For example, if
your community needs to build new schools or rehabilitate old ones,
you should be able to do that. 

If you want to offer merit pay for great teachers, you should be able to
do that, too. 

We've heard a lot from the president about testing. But he thinks
Washington should administer the tests. Wrong again. We think that
you -- the parents, the teachers and local officials -- should do the job.

Republicans in Congress strongly support that kind of state testing,
just as we support an even more important kind -- periodic testing for
teachers. You won't hear much about that from the president. On this
subject, the president disagrees with us. And we disagree with him. 

But good teachers -- like my mother, who taught public elementary
school for 19 years -- don't object to testing. They want it. They say
teacher testing will be a key step in implementing the kind of merit
pay program that attracts star teachers. 

They also say even the best teachers can't get good results when
their school is a dangerous, violent place. We hope the president,
this year, will finally see the wisdom in our proposal to give freedom
of choice to low-income families whose children are stuck in
dead-end, drug-ridden schools. 

Because we care so deeply about those families, we want them to
have the same option exercised by both President Clinton and Vice
President Gore, who chose the schools their children attended. 

Parental choice and involvement are absolutely essential, but choice
in education does not mean abandoning our public schools. It simply
means moving decision-making away from Washington and back to
you at your family's kitchen table. 

That's the first and most important step to launching an era of
education renewal that will equip our schools and our students to lead
America and the world into the new century. 

But don't forget, today's young people confront a danger even worse
than poor education. Teen drug abuse has become epidemic, and
there are no safe havens from this insidious modern plague. 

Overall, teenage drug use has nearly doubled since 1992 and,
perhaps most frightening of all, nearly half of all 17-year-olds say they
could buy marijuana in just an hour's time. 

Like the president, I want to stop youth smoking, but the narcotics
problem is a far greater threat to teen-agers. 

First, to solve the drug crisis, we have to start with the family, the
school and with our churches and synagogues. Studies show that
teens in families that eat together, play together and pray together
are the ones least likely to try drugs. When the battle against drug
abuse is first waged at home, the war is half won. 

Second, schools must be drug-free. We must demand absolute
accountability and zero tolerance for any drug abuse on school
grounds. 

Third, there is the critical role of the federal government. We've simply
got to be more aggressive in guarding our national borders. Along
with that, we must be more vigilant in arresting and prosecuting
anyone -- yes, anyone -- who sells this poison. 

And fourth, it's time to get tough on society's predators. We must end
parole for violent criminals, crack down on juvenile criminals,
increase prison capacity, make the death penalty a real threat and
impose mandatory penalties for crimes committed with a gun. 

If we are honestly committed to protecting the innocent, we must do
more to punish the guilty. 

By combining national leadership with community activism, we can --
and we will -- save America, one child and one neighborhood at a
time. 

We don't pretend to have all the answers here in Washington, but I
guarantee you we will ask the right questions. 

For example, there's the issue of child care. We say give families
more flexibility in the way they work and care for their children. 

But how do we do it? 

First and foremost, cut the tax burdens on the American family. Don't
force both parents to work, and work longer hours, when they could
have more time at home with their kids. 

Give stay-at-home parents the same tax breaks and benefits
available to parents who use day care. After all, all moms work --
whether at home or in an outside job. 

Let employees negotiate flex-time and comp-time arrangements.
Help small businesses provide on-site day care. And make it easier
-- and more profitable -- for older Americans to provide child care for
growing families. 

We're taking this common-sense approach because, as parents and
grandparents ourselves, we've learned it takes parents, and parental
choice, to raise a child in today's world. 

Of course, there are dangers in today's world that demand strong
national leadership. Just last week, Pope John Paul's visit to Cuba
reminded us that, despite the collapse of communism, tonight the
future remains very uncertain over much of the globe. 

Let me make one thing clear to Saddam Hussein -- or anyone else
who needs to be told: Despite any current controversy, this Congress
will vigorously support the president in full defense of America's
interests throughout the world. 

By the same token, we will ask the president to work with us in
considering ways to stop the threats of terrorism, international
narcotics and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. 

As hard as it is to believe, right now our country has no national
defense against missiles carrying nuclear, chemical or biological
warheads. 

Those who hate America most -- in Iraq, Iran and elsewhere --they
know that. 

President Clinton, I urge you to reconsider your opposition to
defending America from missile attack. Join us in taking the steps
that will actually deploy a missile defense system for the United
States. 

There at least a dozen other important subjects the Congress will
deal with in the months ahead. For example, ending the dreadful
practice of partial-birth abortions. I urge our Democratic colleagues in
the Senate to help us override the president's veto of that legislation. 

In addition, we're committed to more positive reforms in health care,
protection of workers' rights and paychecks, reform of bankruptcy
laws and legislation to combat teen smoking. 

All the while, we're going to concentrate on what we call oversight --
which means finding out why you aren't getting your money's worth
from government, and why so much of your hard-earned money goes
for programs filled with fraud and abuse. 

Last year, for example, the administration admitted it paid out $23
billion in ineligible Medicare claims -- that's in one year alone -- and
spent another $5 billion in improper payments in just one welfare
program. 

That's just intolerable! 

We intend to make government accountable -- from the classrooms
to the courts, from the clerks to the president's Cabinet, from the post
office to the presidency. 

This isn't a matter of Republicans vs. Democrats. It's a question of
whether we will learn from past mistakes in order to restore the great
institutions -- and the cherished values -- family, faith and freedom --
that for so long have held us together as a nation. 

The president is right to point out our heroes tonight -- but there are
some others who should not be forgotten. Twenty-five years ago, next
month, a small band of Americans returned home after long captivity
in Southeast Asia. 

Some broken in body, but never broken in spirit, those returning
prisoners of war reminded us, through our cheers and our tears, just
how precious we hold our freedom. 

Now the world has changed greatly -- and greatly for the better -- in
those 25 years. 

But we must remember why it changed, why we can now look to the
century ahead with high hopes and just why we are the envy of the
world. The reason is that Americans -- we the people -- have been
willing to sacrifice everything to protect our families, to practice our
faith, and to defend our freedom. 

What those heroes fought to preserve, we must now work to recover
and strengthen -- by renewing American education, restoring the
security of the American family, and rebuilding the kind of government
that works with you and for you, the kind of government you can trust. 

Thank you for listening. 

Good night, and God bless you all. 

END