[Page H5818]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ENCOURAGING THE IRON WILL OF SUCCESS IN AMERICA; A NATION PLUMMETING 
                            INTO MEDIOCRITY

  (Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Instead of appealing to America's 
greatest aspirations, hopes, and dreams, there are those who are 
appealing to our basest character, using fear and envy and greed to 
prey upon those we are supposed to lead. We can no longer sow the seeds 
of this dependency, feed it with despair in hopes of reaping the 
benefits of power, all the while weakening the iron will of this Nation 
and plummeting it into mediocrity.
  We must encourage inventiveness, entrepreneurship, and the risk that 
comes with leadership. We must not attack and mock those who work hard. 
It is not a path to greatness but a road to mediocrity and servitude 
where people are encouraged not to reach for the stars but to grab what 
they can get from the government.
  Those who prey upon the fears of the weak insult them twice--once in 
trying to frighten them, another for believing they are too weak to 
understand they're being fooled. We have had enough of unemployment, of 
the weakening of our Nation, the drama of hand-wringing, the cowardice 
of blaming, finger-pointing and deflection, insults to opportunities of 
job creators, and the ransom we pay to other nations in the form of 
energy, manufactured goods and massive interest on our massive debt.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for leaders to stop using ``success'' as a 
dirty word and as a justification to take more and more from those who 
create jobs. Whether the worker wears a blue collar or a blue suit, all 
work is good and noble, and it is time to encourage, not to criticize, 
the work.

                          ____________________