[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


                              {time}  1230
 
         AGENTS OF CHANGE CONVERTED TO AGENTS OF THE STATUS QUO

  (Mr. VENTO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. VENTO. Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago in the 1992 campaign Members of 
Congress all started as agents of change in terms of making change and 
President Clinton in his State of the Union address in the proposals 
put before Congress sought to accomplish that change to challenge the 
order of priorities that existed. But as many have all evolved during 
this Congress and through our work in Washington, those agents of 
change turned into the agents of the status quo, too often doing the 
bidding of the special interests and too often not doing the bidding of 
the people back home.
  The fact is that today what we are facing is a question for the 
voters of whether we want business as usual, what has happened, or 
business as unusual, what has happened in the other body where they 
have gone to unusual extent to try and stop many of the reforms, 
including health care. And now we hear in the national media people 
boasting about the fact that they were able to stop health care, and 
now they are asking for the endorsement and support of the American 
people on an agenda to take apart the Federal Government, not to put 
the Federal Government to work and sound policies for the 40 million or 
so Americans who have no health insurance in this country every year, 
not to put the Federal Government to work to deal with the problems of 
people, but to pursue a pledge which reneges and to sithdraw from 
helping the people back home.
  Mr. Speaker, I hope the voters will speak loud on November 8. And 
send a message of hope of renewal for the Federal Government to address 
the problems our Nation and people face.

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