CONGRESS: Fact Sheet - 10/2/92 October 2, 1992 PRESIDENT BUSH IS FIGHTING CONGRESS FOR A BETTER AMERICA President Bush has fought for his sound economic growth proposals for three and a half years and the Congress has blocked him at every turn. If Congress had enacted the President's proposals, our nation's economic performance would be stronger than it is today and more people would have jobs. If the Gridlock Congress passed President Bush's proposed Balanced Budget Amendment, the federal budget would be better balanced, and American taxpayers would not be paying almost $200 billion a year in interest on the national debt. If Congress had passed legislation giving President Bush a line item veto, as 43 state legislatures have done, hundreds of wasteful government projects, which the President has identified in his budgets, would have been excised, and the President would have had more leverage over a Congress that seeks to tax more and spend more. If Congress passed the President's Enterprise Zone/Jobs Creation Act and reduced the capital gains tax rate, capital would be more abundant and business investment would be growing, especially in distressed areas. If the Gridlock Congress passed President Bush's economic growth plan, 500,000 jobs would have been created this year alone, including 272,500 jobs in the real estate and construction sectors due solely to the President's homebuyers' tax credit. If Congress passed the President's Comprehensive Violent Crime Control Act, violent crime would be under control, the death penalty would provide a deterrent to the most heinous of violent crimes, and prosecutors would be able to use legitimately-gathered evidence to imprison dangerous offenders. If Congress passed President Bush's education proposals, all parents, not just those who can afford it, would be able to choose what school their children will attend -- public, private, or religious -- and all Americans would have access to higher education. If the Gridlock Congress passed the four pieces of legislation President Bush has sent to Congress to reform our health care system, health care would be would be more affordable and available to all Americans. -more- If Congress had passed President Bush's Access to Justice Act, our country would no longer be plagued by frivolous lawsuits, productivity would increase, and our product liability system would be reformed so that consumers would not have to pay for a company's high insurance cots. For three and a half years, President Bush has pushed Congress to act on his sound proposals to improve our quality of life. But Congress has stalled and blocked him at every turn. # # #