Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA) today delivered the following remarks on the floor of the House regarding his recent trip back to the Third District and the feedback from his constituents on the economic crisis:

Thank you very much, Madam speaker. It's interesting sitting on the floor listening to the speeches during this period of time. On the one hand I listened to the gentleman from Virginia talk about a bipartisan approach to deal with our problem of fiscal irresponsibility and the load of debt we are placing on our children and grandchildren. On the other hand I did hear a gentleman from the other side of the aisle talk to us about why it's Bush's fault. When I was in school and they were teaching us debate, they talked about the ad hominem argument: the personalization of the argument. Usually that meant when you didn't have the facts you tried to make it personal. There was also a discussion by a gentleman from the other side of the aisle about the fact that we are finally going to be concerned about the people of America, as if those who disagree with you would be people who are not interested in Americans. I'm not sure that gets us anywhere. As a matter of fact I think that gets us nowhere. It is that kind of quasi-debate which leads us down the wrong path.

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We are without a doubt facing a very difficult economic situation. As did others, I returned to my district to talk to constituents about that. I had a teletownhall with over 6,000 people on the line and I listened to their comments. I also sent out a questionnaire by email and thus far we have received over 1,800 responses. I thought it might be informative to tell this body the feelings of the people in my district, at least as reflected in this survey although I realize it is not a scientific survey.

In response to the question, “What's the most immediate economic concern you face?” overwhelmingly 53 percent of the respondents said they were most concerned about declining value of retirement accounts. We ought to be very concerned about that because if we send a message to the world that we are fiscally irresponsible, that more and more spending and more and more debt is the way to get out of the situation we got into because of spending and debt, those retirement accounts are going to lose more value. We ought to be concerned about the future as well as the immediate present.

Secondly, in response to the question, “What is the most important element of an economic stimulus package?” the number one response was tax cuts. Why? Because many of the American people do believe the argument that raising taxes in the midst of a recession doesn't make sense. And the tax cuts properly articulated, properly enforced create a stimulus to the private sector, particularly the small and medium-sized businesses, where the jobs are really created, not the government sector. Secondly the biggest response was, “Nothing. The economy is strongest when government does not interfere.” And the third response was “Funding for infrastructure projects.” Unfortunately, the percentage of money that goes to infrastructure projects is relatively small, as is the percentage that goes towards tax cuts.

The next question: “Are you satisfied with the economic stimulus package Congress passed?” Thirty-four percent of the people in my district said, “No -the details of the size and scope needed to be worked out.” Perhaps they thought having less than 24 hours to look at a 1,076 page bill was inappropriate. The second largest response, 33 percent, was, “No – Congress shouldn't have passed any stimulus package.” Those concerned that the stimulus package did not stimulate. And third, by a much, much smaller margin, “Yes, anything the government can do is better than nothing.”

The next question, “I expect the worst the economic crisis to be over within - ” This is truly difficult to read because it said that 42 percent of the respondents thought it would take 24 months or more. Second largest response was 13 to 18 months by 21 percent. Seventeen percent believed it would be 19 to 24 months. In other words, the American people – at least reflected in my district by this survey – understand the seriousness and depth of this economic difficulty.

And lastly, I asked them, “The economic crisis’ impact on me is such that – ” And the response number one was, “I am ok right now but am worried about what will happen to me if the economy continues to get worse.” Fifty-nine percent. Thirty-three percent of the people said, “I will face tough decisions but I will survive.” And less than nine percent said, “I do not know how I will make it through the time.” Interesting thing about that response is the resiliency of the American people. They do believe, they do have faith we'll get out of this. But they believe we will get out of it through the ingenuity, creativity, stick-to-it-iveness, the work ethic of the American people, not government. We should not forget the essence of the greatness of America lies in its people not the government. This government reflects its people. This government is one that was set up to protect the rights of the people but also be protected against an overweaning government. If we are to work ourselves out of this economy, we must rely on the people, the creativity and do nothing that impinges upon that.