[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 142 (Tuesday, October 4, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 4, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                APPROPRIATIONS BILLS PASS IN RECORD TIME

  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, with all the talk about gridlock, 
filibuster, and cloture, no one seems to have noticed that the Congress 
has passed all 13 appropriations bills before the start of the new 
fiscal year for only the third time since 1948. In fact, the last time 
Congress managed this feat was 1988--the year President Ronald Reagan 
shamed the Democrat Congress into doing its work on time.
  There are few pieces of legislation more important to running the 
Government than appropriations bills. If Congress fails to pass its 
funding bills by October 1, Government departments shut down, Federal 
employees don't get paid, retirees don't get their Social Security 
checks, and--in the case of the D.C. appropriations bill--the Redskins 
can't play football at RFK Stadium.
  The only way around this problem is to pass a continuing resolution 
to provide stop-gap funding. Continuing resolutions have ranged in size 
from a single bill to all 13 appropriations bills. A continuing 
resolution may keep Amtrak, but it is sure no way to run a railroad or 
a government.
  No doubt about it, achieving a new appropriations speed record 
doesn't happen without the assistance of the minority. Republicans 
worked long hours, limited debate, and withheld important amendments to 
assure timely passage of each one of these bills. Unfortunately, this 
kind of cooperation doesn't make the headlines.
  Senate Republicans are not the agents of gridlock. We have worked, 
and will continue to work, to expedite passage of good legislation, 
including NAFTA and these 13 appropriations bills.
  I want to congratulate Senator Byrd and Senator Hatfield, as well as 
the chairman and ranking member of each appropriation subcommittee, for 
their dedication to passing each of these funding bills on time. The 
news media may not have noticed their accomplishments, but the history 
books certainly will.

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