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Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, this has been a very enlightening morning listening to both Democrats and Republicans refuting this myth that seems to be floating around the country that we are enjoying this great economic time when, in fact, the indicators show just the opposite.

I happened to be presiding when the distinguished Senator from New Mexico, Senator Bingaman, observed that people who are doing the work in America are getting less and more rapidly plummeting down to the point where we were in 1967 in terms of real income or purchasing power for the American people. Also we can observe that it is worse than might be indicated by family income because we increasingly have multifamily members working in America. When I was quite young, it was somewhat unheard of. It was not a way of life in America. Nonetheless, the real purchasing power is going down.

I do not like to point fingers as to why this is happening, but I think, Mr. President, when you look at the policies that were adopted by the current President of the United States, Bill Clinton, it is four-tiered. It is increased spending, increased taxes, increased borrowing, and increased regulations. I do not very often quote a very distinguished talk radio show host but I

remember the other day he said, `If you really want to be competitive with the Japanese, export our regulations to Japan and we will be competitive.' I think there is a lot of truth to that.

Some people may have forgotten that back in the first year of the Clinton administration, in 1993, there was a tax increase that was characterized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and I specifically recall the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee characterizing that tax increase as the largest single tax increase in the history of public finance in America or anyplace in the world. That was a very large tax increase.

I recall, also, when the chief adviser to the President, prior to being sworn in for her duties, made the observation that there is no relationship between the level of taxation in a country and the economic activity, and further went on to say what we need in this country in addition to the taxes we currently have is a value-added tax to be comparable to that in other industrialized nations that would immediately increase revenues $400 billion.

I suggest this is where this administration has gone wrong, because the problem we are having in America is not that we are taxed too little, but we are taxed too much.

I, the other day, on the 9th of January, witnessed the birth of a charming little man by the name of James Edward Rapert, in Fayetteville, AR. At that time I looked at this very small baby, where I was actually there in the room during the delivery of that small child in Arkansas, and I realized that innocent child, who had not done anything wrong on his own, inherits a share of the national debt of $18,000 that that one individual will have to pay off during his lifetime. That individual did not do anything to cause this.

Also, I noticed if we do not change this trend that has been continued by the current administration, that that small child, James Edward Rapert, will have to pay 82 percent of his lifetime income just to support the debt. That is how we have gotten to the point where we are now, where we have to do something about it.

There was a man who came to this country by the name of Alexis de Tocqueville many years ago. He actually came here to study our prison system, and when he got here he was so impressed by the freedom in this country and by the wealth of this Nation that he wrote a book. The final paragraph of that book said: Once the people of this country find they can vote themselves money out of the public trust, the system will fail. And that is exactly where we are today, right on the brink of having a system that will fail. The economy is not good today.

One more thing I want to say before yielding the floor, back to this tax thing, is the President has opposed a budget balancing amendment to the Constitution. He actually campaigned on a budget balancing amendment to the Constitution. Also, he vetoed the Balanced Budget Act. When he vetoed that Balanced Budget Act he was saying that we do not want to live in the confines where we will be able to eliminate the deficit in 7 years.

That particular act also included some tax relief. There was a lot of criticism I heard from conservative Republicans all across the country: We do not care about tax relief until we balance the budget. What they do not realize is all we were trying to do is correct a mistake that was made in this country back in 1993 when we passed the largest single tax increase in the history of public finance in America or anyplace else in the world. If anyone was not for that tax increase, then they should be for tax relief.

I think it is incumbent upon us, and certainly those in the freshman class, who are new here to the U.S. Senate, to have an absolute commitment to giving tax relief, to giving families more of the expendable income that they work so hard for. That

is our commitment. It is not just for those of us who are around today but the new generations that are coming up, the James Edward Raperts. Incidentally, that happened to be my grandson.

I yield the floor.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.

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Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent morning business be extended for a total of 10 minutes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.